When Carl Morrison arrived at his first Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) conference several years ago, he experienced some anxiety because he thought he might be the only former paralegal in attendance.

“These people seem really smart, and I don't know that I can do this,” he recalled thinking.

But Morrison said he had a eureka moment at the second session he attended when two of the four panelists shared they had previously worked as paralegals before moving into legal operations. Their disclosures helped him realize that he was “not a unicorn” and provided motivation for him to continue on his new legal ops career path.

Morrison has since become the director of legal operations for MGM Resorts International, after previously holding the same title at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for nearly six years.

Morrison talked about his career trajectory during a recent Lawtrades webinar in which he and two other legal ops directors — Tom Stephenson at Credit Karma and Deisha Vazquez at Benevis — encouraged paralegals that they could effectively make the switch to legal ops roles.

“Our whole goal is to help give you confidence so that you know that you can do that leap,” Morrison said during the panel, which was moderated by Matt Margolis, Lawtrades’ head of community.

Varied journeys

All three panelists shared that having a wide variety of experiences as paralegals helped them develop an array of skills and successfully become legal operators.

Stephenson, during his time at law firms, worked as a corporate finance litigation paralegal before moving into other areas, including employment and bankruptcy.

He later managed paralegal groups, legal professional groups and legal administrative teams.

“Whether or not it was called legal operations, I was handling workflows,” Stephenson said. “And I think a lot of us in this profession take on these responsibilities as we grow with the law firm.”

“Hopefully over time that organically allows you to take the next step in your career towards ultimately legal operations if that’s where you want to be,” he added. 

Vazquez said she gained paralegal experience initially in-house before moving to law firms, including Seyfarth Shaw.

Her law firm paralegal experiences included corporate, litigation, and healthcare work. She also worked as a legal secretary, a claims assistant and an anti-money laundering analyst, roles that helped learn more about different areas of the law.

Vazquez said one motivation for her moving into legal operations was to make more money in the legal industry without becoming a lawyer. Legal ops leaders are commanding pay packages that rival those of other corporate executives, according to a survey released by Legal Operators and Brightflag earlier this year. 

“If a title prevents you from making more money, then find out what that next title is that will give you more money and learn as much about it as possible,” Vazquez told webinar attendees.

Her past corporate experience has enabled her to also serve as assistant corporate secretary at Benevis, which provides dental practice management services to offices across the country.

Learning and networking

Morrison, who worked as a law firm paralegal for many years, said he also decided he wanted to advance his legal career without becoming a lawyer.

It was while he was working as an in-house paralegal that he came across an article about legal operations that helped spark an interest in the profession. When he finally got the courage to tell his general counsel he would like to take on a legal ops role, the GC was supportive because he had recently attended an Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) session about legal ops.

Overall, Morrison said he benefited from a general counsel who put faith in him to develop greater knowledge about legal topics, such as contracts law, because he already possessed the skills needed to strengthen legal department operations.

He and the other panelists said attending events like those put on by CLOC are a great way for paralegals and new entrants in the legal operations space to enhance their knowledge and develop new connections.

Vazquez said she met Morrison and Stephenson for the first time speaking at a Consero Legal Operations Forum in California earlier this year. And when she went to CLOC for the first time this spring, she saw them both speaking on panels.

“This community is very small, but it is growing day by day,” Vazquez said. “So get in and network with people.”

Stephenson said members of the legal operations community are more than willing to help paralegals make the transition to legal ops. 

“If you are so adamant that you are going to quit a role because your title isn’t legal operations but you haven’t been able to identify what that is and clearly articulate it, that’s where this community is wanting to connect the dots and help everyone be on the same page so we can advocate for each other,” he said.