Sometimes news converges in fortuitous ways. Yesterday, I interviewed Felicity Conrad, cofounder and CEO of the pro bono technology startup Paladin, for next week’s LawNext podcast. This morning, I posted this week’s episode, featuring a discussion on alternative law firm models among a panel that included Sameena Kluck, until recently strategic account executive at Thomson Reuters.
Now for the convergence: Today, Paladin is announcing that Kluck has joined the company as its first vice president of business development. When she officially starts Thursday, her primary focus will be on getting more law firms to use Paladin to manage and track their attorneys’ pro bono legal work.
“I’m super excited because Paladin is so focused on technology and innovation and how it can transform people’s lives,” Kluck told me this morning. “Their real goal is to reduce the access to justice gap. I went into law because I wanted to help people. The ability to do that through tech is pretty exciting to me.”
Kluck said she is also excited to join a company run by two woman, Conrad and cofounder Kristin Sonday (who is also Hispanic).
“The greatest percentage of those with unmet legal needs are women and people of color,” said Kluck. “It is important to the folks we’re delivering legal tech for that we look like them.”
Kluck, who describes herself as an “innovation evangelist,” worked at Thomson Reuters 16 years, until last December. In her most recent position there as strategic account executive, she led a team of client managers who served some of the largest law firms in Washington, D.C., and along the east coast. With Paladin, her coverage will be nationwide and even extend to firms outside the U.S.
At Thomson Reuters, Kluck says on her LinkedIn profile, her focus was on listening to
