Originally published by Law Technology Today - March 2019.

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The Legal Technology Resource Center’s Women of Legal Tech initiative is intended to encourage diversity and celebrate women in legal technology. This initiative launched in 2015 with a list of innovators and leaders in legal technology and with this year’s additions, that list now includes 100 talented and influential women leaders. Every Monday, we will be featuring a woman from our class of 2019. This week we have Catherine Krow!

How did you become involved in legal tech?
I practiced law at top-tier firms for 17 years and was a partner for much of that time. So for most of my career, building legal technology was never part of the plan. But about five years ago, I began to realize that the legal profession urgently needed to evolve. Legal departments were facing immense pressure to reduce spending, forecast accurately, and increase outside counsel accountability. In a buyers’ market, law firms would have to do more to help their clients achieve their business goals.

It also seemed to me that this was a solvable problem, but one that would require a deeper understanding of costs, the ability to align resources very effectively, and clear internal and external communication around expectations. I saw an opportunity to build technology that would deliver these insights and promote trust and collaboration between attorneys and clients. When the cost expectations are clear all the way through the matter, there are fewer unpleasant surprises breaking down the trusted advisor relationship.

What projects have you been focused on recently?
For business, I am leveraging data to help customers understand legal costs at a task level and create alternative fee arrangements for complex work. Personally, I am helping my daughter with her upcoming international day presentation. I am passionate about both.