![Ep 44: How an Opera Singer Became a Legal Ops Pro: Cory Clines, Legal Operations Consultant image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=640,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/cd4630f0-2ef2-4692-9d6c-85081307e650.png)
![](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=640,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/cd4630f0-2ef2-4692-9d6c-85081307e650.png)
How can training to be a professional opera singer translate into the legal operations profession? How do you build a career in legal ops without any formal training? And what role should technology play–if any–in a strong legal ops program?
Cory Clines, Legal Operations Manager at Campari Group, was able to transfer valuable lessons from his life as a conservatory-trained opera singer into his fifteen-year-long career in legal ops, like the importance of collaboration and the need for a shared vision among teams. In his current role and at former companies like Advance Publications and Lloyd’s, Cory was able to leverage his love of technology into managerial roles that revolutionized legal processes with efficiency-maximizing software.
Listen as Cory discusses how to develop strong relationships with tech vendors, building legal ops teams from scratch, earning the trust of your GC, the best ways to run an RFP, and more.
Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-45
Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Training as an opera singer: 4:01
Considering skill transfer from opera to legal operations: 12:12
Moving forward by earning the trust of your GC: 14:46
Deciding to leverage technology in legal ops: 16:34
Running RFPs from an in-house perspective: 18:59
Identifying new opportunities to advance your legal ops career: 22:05
Advice to legal ops professionals who feel pigeonholed in one aspect of the role: 24:27
Considering how curiosity affects your work: 27:23
Questioning the need for tech expertise as a legal operations manager: 28:47
Looking back at tech implementations that went wrong: 31:20
Building a legal ops team from scratch at Campari: 38:14
Using tech to drive legal ops process: 41:15
Book recommendations: 46:01
What you wish you had known when you started in legal ops: 47:58
Connect with us:
Cory Clines - https://www.linkedin.com/in/corywilliamclines/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
![](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=640,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/cd4630f0-2ef2-4692-9d6c-85081307e650.png)
How can training to be a professional opera singer translate into the legal operations profession? How do you build a career in legal ops without any formal training? And what role should technology play–if any–in a strong legal ops program?
Cory Clines, Legal Operations Manager at Campari Group, was able to transfer valuable lessons from his life as a conservatory-trained opera singer into his fifteen-year-long career in legal ops, like the importance of collaboration and the need for a shared vision among teams. In his current role and at former companies like Advance Publications and Lloyd’s, Cory was able to leverage his love of technology into managerial roles that revolutionized legal processes with efficiency-maximizing software.
Listen as Cory discusses how to develop strong relationships with tech vendors, building legal ops teams from scratch, earning the trust of your GC, the best ways to run an RFP, and more.
Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-45
Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Training as an opera singer: 4:01
Considering skill transfer from opera to legal operations: 12:12
Moving forward by earning the trust of your GC: 14:46
Deciding to leverage technology in legal ops: 16:34
Running RFPs from an in-house perspective: 18:59
Identifying new opportunities to advance your legal ops career: 22:05
Advice to legal ops professionals who feel pigeonholed in one aspect of the role: 24:27
Considering how curiosity affects your work: 27:23
Questioning the need for tech expertise as a legal operations manager: 28:47
Looking back at tech implementations that went wrong: 31:20
Building a legal ops team from scratch at Campari: 38:14
Using tech to drive legal ops process: 41:15
Book recommendations: 46:01
What you wish you had known when you started in legal ops: 47:58
Connect with us:
Cory Clines - https://www.linkedin.com/in/corywilliamclines/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
![Ep 45: What Executive Recruiters Need from GCs: Joelle Khoury, Consultant at Egon Zehnder image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/5d17c34c-8c8d-4c48-9c6c-c199e23ba876.png)
![Ep 43: Why Foreign-Trained Lawyers are Essential: Flavia Naves, Of Counsel, Hathaway & Kunz, LLP image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/a690e44a-9f62-472a-a94d-78b8fae18b17.png)
![Ep 42: Legacy Legal Ops v. Start-Up Legal Ops: Susan Packal, Head of Global Legal Ops at Atlassian image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/babbcbc3-ee2f-4d3f-b580-50d5a607924d.png)
![Ep 41: Building Legal Ops at Google: DeAnna Papedis, Head of Legal Contracts & Operations, Google image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/17904e90-6834-4f92-b4da-4eff1d40166b.png)
![Ep 40: Leveraging Social Media to Build a Legal Brand: Matt Margolis, Partner, Margolis PLLC image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/302000d0-d00d-40bc-a47f-40c3af567ed5.png)
![EP39: Legal Process Orchestration: Sagi Eliyahu, CEO & Co-founder, Tonkean (w/ cohost Akshay Verma) image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/afd4cb71-4c64-4ce0-8089-cd7d3725252d.png)
![Ep 38: Product Counseling at Nest, Apple, and a Climate Change Startup: Vineet Shahani, GC, Mill image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/68407b21-477a-447b-bd9b-6dee0da957ef.png)
![Ep 37: IPO, Acquisitions & Board Membership: Nithya Das, Chief Legal & Administrative Officer, Diligent image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/fbb8f257-ab09-4ba4-8ac6-c571271ebd51.png)
![EP 36: From Paralegals to Legal Ops Leaders: Tommie Tavares-Ferreira, Cedar, and Tom Stephenson, Legal.io image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/e77e9d23-2c29-4a23-8226-56a21e8466b2.png)
![Ep 35: Growing Your Personal Brand and Legal Network on LinkedIn: Brittany Leonard, GC at Civix image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/43228857-0f24-4d05-a890-40de345b919f.png)
![Ep 34: From Prosecuting to Leading In-house at a Tech Startup: S. Michael Lee, GC & COO at Engaging.ai image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/0c1b5cd5-7636-452e-a35a-a1f58fcaebd3.png)
![Ep 33: Legal Issues in the Gene Editing Space: Lisa Taylor Ash, General Counsel at Shape Therapeutics image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/29c6b0f7-a8f3-41a6-872a-021a34d305dd.png)
![Ep 32: From Product Counseling at Apple & Meta to the Crypto World: Nguyen Vu, DGC, OKX image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/4c58aa51-7856-4e10-bee3-b2b5116c540c.png)
![Ep 31: Peak Legal Efficiency: Siddharth Manchanda, IndusLaw Partner & Unacademy External GC image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/1ccb641e-a261-438b-bfed-e55c3b7920c2.png)
![Ep 30: Leading Legal in Complex Regulatory Environments: Hardeep Singh, GC, CRED image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/4370c687-c45a-4179-bc2d-e9754a8eef99.png)
![EP 29: What’s Next for Legal Ops: Jenn McCarron, President of CLOC image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/44fdfd6f-02f4-4cc7-b3ad-2c50c271ade8.png)
![Ep 28: From Law Partner to Top Recruiter: Richard Hsu, Managing Director at Major, Lindsey & Africa image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/6089cff6-644f-4465-8aae-1ad08a3ad162.png)
![Ep 27: Taking Businesses & Legal Teams Global: Sarah Binder, General Counsel, Lime image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/afda4ede-3070-4bf7-b844-f7a86623b492.png)
![Finding Empowerment in Disability: Raj Mahapatra, Senior Counsel at Wilson Sonsini image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=90,quality=85/image-files/63f5a97459f1c21320a47bfd/b806009d-996b-4b38-8809-0358c9847267.png)