Director of Legal @ Malbek | Legal Tech Author and Commentator | Fastcase 50 2022 Honoree | Legal Tech Startup Advisor and Investor

I help legal professionals, legal teams, and technology organizations make sense of legal technology so they can work smarter, deliver stronger outcomes, and lead with confidence in a field that is often noisy, fragmented, and misunderstood.

As General Counsel of Malbek and a long-time educator, author, and advocate, I sit at the intersection of law, technology, and learning. My work centers on translation. I take complex, fast-moving technologies and turn them into clear concepts, practical strategies, and informed decisions that legal professionals can actually use. Whether guiding teams through digital transformation or shaping how legal products are built and adopted, my focus is always on clarity over hype.

Teaching is core to how I operate. I regularly speak to diverse audiences, from military organizations to law firms and in-house legal departments, as well as large professional groups, on AI’s impact on legal work and the responsible, effective use of technology. Across these settings, my goal is the same: to help people understand not just what tools do, but how they change legal work, roles, and judgment.

That same educational mission runs through my writing and publishing. I am the author of The Legal Tech Ecosystem, a foundational guide to understanding the industry and its players, a co-author of CLM for Dummies, and the editor of the Handbook of Legal Tech. I also write regularly, serve as a columnist for Today’s General Counsel, and contribute through podcasts, webinars, and industry forums. Each platform is another way to make legal tech more accessible, grounded, and actionable.

Across every role, my aim is to equip people with the knowledge and confidence to engage with innovation thoughtfully and critically. If you are trying to cut through the legal tech noise, educate your team, modernize how your legal function operates, or build tools that truly serve legal professionals, I help move you from uncertainty to understanding and from learning to execution.

Let’s build what comes next.

Colin Levy

You can't negotiate AI contract provisions if you don't understand how the technology actually works.

The guide walks through it in the context of AI-specific contractual clauses:

What to flag, redlining suggestions, and negotiation suggestions.

Let me know what you think!

I'm Colin S. Levy, General Counsel at Malbek and author of The Legal Tech Ecosystem.

#legaltech #contracts #law #business #learning

Colin S. Levy

General Counsel at Malbek | Author of The Legal Tech Ecosystem | I Help Legal Teams and Tech Companies Navigate AI, Legal Tech, and Digital Enablement

AI Clauses Guide

AI Agents and Your Data: Two Questions You Should Be Asking

As AI agents become more prevalent in legal workflows, I'm noticing a gap in the conversations happening around their adoption. We're discussing capabilities and use cases extensively, but glossing over the practical realities of data management and security.

Two areas deserve sharper focus:

1) Data Handling and Storage
When an AI agent processes your documents, drafts your contracts, or analyzes your matter files, where does that data actually go? How long is it retained? Is it used for model training? These aren't theoretical questions. They're foundational to understanding what you're agreeing to when you deploy these tools.

Most lawyers assume their data stays private and ephemeral. It doesn't always. Different providers take vastly different approaches to data retention, storage locations, and usage rights. Some retain your inputs for 30 days. Others longer. Some use customer data to improve their models unless you explicitly opt out. The terms matter, and they're rarely transparent.

2) Cybersecurity
AI agents typically require broader access than traditional software. They need to read files, access systems, sometimes act on your behalf. That expanded access creates expanded risk.

Are you treating AI agent deployments with the same security rigor you'd apply to any third-party vendor with system access? Validating their security certifications? Understanding their incident response protocols? Reviewing their encryption standards?

I'm optimistic about these tools. Their potential is real. But potential comes with responsibility. 

We need to ask hard questions about data practices and security standards before deployment, not after something goes wrong.

The legal profession has a particular obligation here. We're stewards of confidential client information. 

That duty doesn't evaporate because the technology is new or exciting.

I’m Colin, General Counsel at Malbek, and author of The Legal Tech Ecosystem. 

#legaltech #innovation #law #business #learning

General Counsel at Malbek | Educator Translating Legal Tech And AI Into Practice | Adjunct Professor | Author, The Legal Tech Ecosystem

MENTAL FITNESS COACH FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE -Lawyers: Feeling overwhelmed and burned out? Become Mental Powerhouse and Dominate Your Demanding Law Practice

You’ve built a successful law career. 

So why does it still feel this hard?

I was in my mid fifties. 
For two years, I struggled with weakness and burnout. 

I believed what many Boomers silently accept: 
Maybe the best years are behind me.

I felt exhausted. 

My health collapsed. 

I had surgery. 

I nearly died.

I asked myself, 
"Is it time to step back? Retire? Fade out? Is the best of my life over?"

But something in me refused to settle.

One day as I weakly hobbled out of my doctor's office, I made a decision. 
I put an imaginary stake in the ground.

I declared, 
"The rest of my life would be the best of my life."

I changed how I lived: what I ate, how I moved, how I worked. 

I became a vegetarian. 

Started daily Pilates. 
Focused on restoring my energy, my strength, and my vision.

I focused on mental clarity, reduced stressful activities, and spent my time building a business I love. 
I stopped being a worker bee.
I came back stronger.

In my seventies, 
I launched two businesses and wrote a third book. 

Today, at 76, I run four. 
I lead a team of seven.

I’m engaged, I travel, I’m healthy, 
and I’m creating more wealth and impact than I ever imagined in my fifties.

Not because I work more. 

But because I finally stopped working the old way.

And that’s what I help lawyers do.

After 30+ years coaching attorneys, partners, firm owners, seasoned professionals.
I’ve seen the pattern repeat.

You’ve put in the hours. 
Built the reputation. 
Hit the milestones.

But behind the scenes, it’s chaos.
You’re overcommitted, under supported, and living in reaction mode.

Your health is slipping, your schedule is relentless, and your life? 
It’s been on hold for years.

Maybe you’re wondering: 
“Is this as good as it gets?”

I created the Pinnacle Lawyer Mastermind for lawyers who are done grinding and ready to reinvent.

Not with fluff.

With strategy, structure, and a new playbook built on your most valuable asset: wisdom.

The lawyers I work with don’t want to retire. 
They want to thrive.
They want time back. 
Energy back. 
Money flowing. 
And clarity about what comes next.

If that’s you, let’s talk.

The next chapter of your life and law practice doesn’t have to look like the last one.
It can be lighter. 
Smarter. 
More profitable. 
More alive.

You didn’t come this far to stall out.

pamela@pamelaldeneuve.com

Pamela DeNeuve

The strongest person in the room is often the most trapped.

Their circumstances seem perfect: a great car, a beautiful home, prestige and success. 

So why are they trapped?

There is a sentence running their life right now. 

How can you tell if you're being run by a sentence you didn’t choose and don’t even remember writing?

But your brain created a sentence, as a survival skill  before you even knew how to talk. It may look impressive and it built your success.

This Invisible Rule may be the very thing stealing the life and satisfaction you assumed success would guarantee.

Turning your successful law career into a legacy of wealth, health and impact.

Sometimes, it’s easiest to hide behind success. This is especially true when everything looks fine on the outside. One night after my kids left for co

Open article: Why Success is a Perfect Hiding Place  by Pamela DeNeuve • 3 min read

AI isn’t here to take your job.

But in a year, someone who understands AI might.
AI itself isn’t the real threat here.

The real risk is not understanding AI.

Let’s be honest.
Have you ever discussed AI and felt pressure to sound knowledgeable, even if you weren’t sure?

It’s that quiet stress of hoping no one asks you a follow-up question.
This happens everywhere. People discuss AI in boardrooms, client meetings, and strategy sessions. Most rely on news or quick takes.

That uncertainty doesn’t just affect what you know. It also shapes your confidence, your decisions, and your leadership.

That’s why the AI Kickoff Town Hall matters: you’ll gain clear, practical AI insights to use immediately.

I will introduce Sharan Kaur, an experienced lawyer and committed AI educator focused on practical, responsible AI training. No hype. No shortcuts. Just real understanding.

Plus, this event is LIVE.

You’ll get expert, tailored advice for your own workflow, concerns, and real-world scenarios, right during the event.

Leave the event ready to confidently and strategically use AI at work, no more guessing or pretending.

A year from now, this step will set apart those who acted from those who stayed uncertain.

Scholarships are available for a short time, and spots for the live Q&A are limited.

Don’t wait, secure your spot now before they’re gone.

You’ll find the registration link in the comments below.

Marcus knew exactly how to win arguments.

So why had his wife stopped talking to him?

Marcus never lost in court. But, he couldn’t understand why his wife stopped talking to him. Across the room, Marcus could read a judge’s body languag

Open article: He Won Every Case—But Lost at Home by Pamela DeNeuve • 2 min read

I almost worked myself into the ground.
And I thought I just needed better time management.

My invisible rule kept me pushing long after my body was worn out. I did not need another planner. I needed awareness.

A question I hear often is: Why Do Brilliant People Struggle With Their Own Lives?

That is a great question. I work with many brilliant men and women. Trying to change their lives on their own is difficult. However, making the right change is more important than we might realize.

You might want to earn more, have a stronger marriage, connect better with your kids, or get healthier, but still feel stuck. It’s not because you lack discipline or motivation. 

Often, it’s because an invisible rule is guiding you.

This rule started early in life. It was how we learned to cope. It is a decision we made as children to get by. Maybe it sounds like: 

“I must achieve to be loved. Or, I can’t let anyone down. Or, I have to do everything myself.”

At one time, this rule helped you. It made you capable, responsible, and maybe even impressive. It could be part of why you’ve been successful.

But now, as an adult, it is out of context. So, it’s holding you back.
It makes you work too much when your marriage really needs you to be present. 

It leads you to control things when your kids actually need your patience. 
It keeps you focused on earning more, even as you ignore how tired you feel inside. 

Maybe you are controlled by your device, although it is ruining your relationship. Or taking that extra drink at night, feeling dull and bloated after dinner. 

You try to fix things on the surface setting new goals, trying new systems, putting in more effort to connect with the family.  But the same pattern keeps coming back.

I understand because I’ve lived it. Overeating, drinking too much, watching TV late at night.

I have noticed many brilliant people struggle because they’re still following an old survival rule.

If you really want to change, it’s not enough to just adjust your habits. You need to ask questions and find out the rule that is running you.

Until you face that rule, it will keep affecting your income, your marriage, your health, and your future.

Lack of sleep affects your ability to make good decisions.
Yet you still refer to it as “work ethic.”

Let me ask you a question.

If a colleague came into your office legally impaired, missing details, working more slowly, and reacting more emotionally, would you praise their dedication?

Or would you question whether they were fit for the job?

After being awake for 17 to 19 hours, your thinking is similar to someone with low-level alcohol impairment. Your memory gets worse, your reactions slow down, your emotions are harder to control, and your brain becomes less flexible and creative.

Still, this is how many lawyers work every day.

I once worked with a senior litigator named Sam who was proud of getting only five hours of sleep each night. “I function fine,” he told me.

But then he missed a small clause during a contract review. That one detail ended up costing his client six figures.

He didn’t miss it because he lacked skill. He missed it because his brain was simply too tired.

Losing sleep raises your cortisol levels. When this happens frequently, your ability to think flexibly declines. 

You become more defensive, less strategic, interrupt more, lose your temper faster, and settle for good enough instead of aiming for great.

Here’s the risky part: The more sleep deprived you become, the less able you are to notice how impaired you really are.

You would never go into court after having two drinks. But you might walk in after only four hours of broken sleep and call it discipline.

Is that really work ethic?

Or is it just burnout disguised as ambition?

Why One Bullied Monkey Feels So Familiar

Punch is a baby monkey whose mother rejected him. He would not have made it without help, but zoo keepers stepped in and saved him.

Later, when he was introduced to the other primates, they also rejected him. To help deal with his loneliness and isolation, he carries a small orange Ikea orangutan everywhere, holding it close for comfort.

Millions of people are following his story because it touches something deep inside us.

Some people are baffled because, with millions of children starving, people seem to be indifferent. Yet the lines to visit the zoo are blocks long from all over the world. 

Watching Punch hold that toy made my chest ache. The zookeeper has become his father figure.

I remember walking home as a little girl with a group of children following me, singing, “I know a girl called Bony Maroni.” I cried and sped up, but they did too, jeering until I reached my yard.

That feeling of loneliness and rejection never fully leaves you.

It turns into an invisible rule, a coping pattern that forms when you feel unsafe.

We do all sorts of behaviors to be accepted. We may stay small, overachieve, or make sure never to show weakness.

I see this happen with lawyers. Paul told me, “Pamela, I feel bushwhacked in mediation.” He is experienced and capable, but something from the past still gets triggered.

This is not a weakness. It is the nervous system remembering.

People react to Punch because we recognize what it’s like to be ostracized, shunned or abandoned. Many high achievers still follow rules they learned in moments like that.

We overwork, try to stay in control and make sure we are accepted. We brace ourselves or act indifferent.

The rule that once kept you safe can quietly take over your life.

If you want real change, you need to understand that rule.

Until you feel safe within yourself, you’ll keep reacting to today as if the past is still happening.

Michael spent three years working 80-hour weeks to make partner.

But only two months after making partner, he started missing deadlines. Michael was baffled!

When we first talked, he said:
"I don't understand what's happening. I worked harder to get here than I've ever worked in my life. Now that I'm here, I can't seem to get anything done."

Michael built his career ensuring nothing slipped through the cracks. He arrived early, stayed late, and rarely turned down requests.

His work was always flawless because he checked it several times before sending it out.

But after becoming a partner, something changed.

He sat at his desk for hours, unable to start on briefs. He rewrote emails over and over and missed a filing deadline for the first time.

His managing partner pulled him aside, and even his wife asked if he was okay.
Michael said:

"I feel like I'm waiting for someone to realize they made a mistake promoting me."

Here’s what we discovered together.

Michael had been following an invisible rule he learned long before law school:
If I work harder than everyone else and never make a mistake, I'll be safe.

That rule helped him succeed as an associate, but after he became a partner, it started to work against him.

Now, every decision felt risky. Every project had to meet his rising expectations.
So he began to procrastinate, rewrite, and overthink everything.

Without realizing it, his mind tried to protect him from the pressure by making him avoid finishing tasks.

After six weeks of working together, Michael made one change that turned everything around.

He started treating his new role as if he were learning to practice law from the beginning, allowing himself to be a beginner at being a partner.

The feeling of being stuck disappeared.

Sometimes, the invisible rule that once helped you succeed can be the same thing that starts to hold you back.

Whether we realize it or not, we all have an invisible rule.
The real question is: what is yours costing you?

Could Alcohol Be Your Real Managing Partner?

Are you in control of your stress, or are you numbing it each night and calling that success?

The Managing Partner says, “Richard, that mistake could have cost us the case. Please close the door as you leave.”

Richard quietly walks back to his office embarrassed, and humiliated. 

No one at the firm knows what he’s dealing with.

His wife is undergoing cancer treatment. Every call from an unknown number makes his chest tighten.

And then there are his parents.

Alzheimer’s has taken his father’s memory. He no longer recognizes Richard.
Richard made the painful decision to move him into care. His mother still hasn’t forgiven him. He knew it was necessary. It still breaks his heart.

Meanwhile, the firm still expects him to bill 2,100 hours.

He’s tired in a way that sleep can’t fix. He feels behind, exposed, and just one mistake away from losing it.

At night, he pours himself a drink to slow his thoughts and take the edge off.

He tells himself, "I need some peace and, it works for a while, and then it doesn’t.

Richard wakes up at 3 a.m. again. The next morning, he’s foggy, less patient, and a bit off. He starts to obsess about that “small” mistake at work and recalling his humiliation. This is how it starts.

For a moment he imagines not being here, and for a moment he thinks of the unthinkable... But he couldn't do that to his wife and kids.

He pours a drink but it has become a habit he can’t stop. He needs alcohol to relieve his pressure and give him some relief. 

Most lawyers don’t fall apart at work. They unravel at home.

They tell themselves they deserve a few drinks and that it helps.

But if alcohol is the only thing that eases your stress, it’s not really helping. It’s managing you.

You can be strong and think you have it all handled but you still need a better way to cope.

Be honest with yourself. Who is really in charge of your stress right now? Ask yourself is Alcohol your Managing Partner?

If you are tired of leaning on a habit that’s quietly stealing your clarity, your focus, and the future you’re working so hard to build, you don’t have to handle it alone. I’m here to help.

You don’t have a sleep problem.
The real issue is that your nervous system is acting like a courtroom, always on high alert.

You win arguments in court. But inside your body, you’re fighting a battle you’re not winning.

Think about that.

Your brain isn’t awake because of your discipline. It stays awake because it senses a threat:

Deadlines. 
Billables. 
Conflict. 
Exposure.

Your amygdala doesn’t care if you close your laptop. It only cares if the threat still feels unresolved.

Here’s what most lawyers never learn:

You only get deep sleep when your parasympathetic system takes over. That’s when your body finally feels safe enough to rest.

But working in law teaches you the opposite: always spot risks, expect attacks, stay alert, and keep your guard up.

You are exceptional at activation. But you haven’t learned how to switch off.

We all want our minds to relax. But if we push our brains to work for 20 hours straight, we can’t expect them to just turn off. 

That’s why we struggle to sleep. We’re up in the middle of the night. Melatonin won’t solve it. Neither will a drink. Scrolling late just makes things harder.

You have to intentionally show your body that it’s safe.

Two non-negotiables:

1. Set a clear mental stopping point. 
2. Don’t let yourself send just one more email.
3. Write tomorrow’s top five tasks. 
4. Close your files marking where you left off, you’ll know where to start tomorrow.

Do you want sharper arguments?
More strategic leeway?
Fewer emotional overreactions?
Higher income with less strain?

So start treating sleep as part of your performance strategy.

Right now, exhaustion is challenging your clarity.
And it’s winning.

AI is already entering the legal profession.

But many lawyers are quietly wondering the same things:

• What can AI actually do in legal practice?

• What are the ethical and malpractice risks?

• Are other firms already using it?

• How do you evaluate AI tools before bringing them into your practice?

The truth is — most attorneys are hearing a lot about AI but haven’t had a chance to ask their real questions.

That’s exactly why we’re hosting an AI Town Hall for Lawyers.

This will be a live, interactive Q&A session where you can ask anything about AI in legal practice — without hype, jargon, or technical confusion.

We’ll discuss:

✔ What AI can (and cannot) do in legal work today

✔ The risks every attorney should understand

✔ How firms are starting to use AI responsibly

✔ How to evaluate tools before adopting them

✔ Your questions — answered live

Join Sharan Kaur, Attorney & AI Specialist and Pamela DeNeuve, Strategist for Lawyers for a practical conversation about how AI is shaping the profession.

📅 March 11 — 2:00 PM EST

📅 March 19 — 1:00 PM EST

Bring your questions. Leave with clarity.

Register here:

https://lnkd.in/evx6pnYi

View event: AI Town Hall For Lawyers - Kickoff 

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