Kennedys IQ, the self-contained tech group of insurance specialist law firm Kennedys, has nabbed Kimberley Davies (pictured), a long-time Luminance senior staffer, for the role of Commercial Development Manager in order to drive up sales of their homemade software.
Artificial Lawyer tends not to cover individual staff moves, because generally they rarely say much about the market as a whole, even if they’re clearly important to the person who is moving jobs. But, in this case it’s worth a quick mention as it indicates how the law firm tech group is very serious about building a sales pipeline, and not leaving BD just to the current team, nor relying on the mothership law firm to do it for them.
The reality is, (as seen with GravityStack, which is owned by Reed Smith – see story), tech teams like this are not just ‘nice to have’, they can really generate additional revenue for a firm – if done right. And, during this crisis generating additional revenue is going to be important.
Of course, having developers is one thing, having skilled sales people is another. And one thing that Luminance has proven it can do is make an impact on the consciousness of the market. So, an interesting move.
Kennedys IQ was recently spun out earlier this year, (see story).
Davies had been at legal AI doc review company Luminance since its inception in 2016, and was most recently Head of Discovery and a member of the management team.
In addition to product development, she was responsible for building the sales process, and overseeing sales and marketing globally for eDiscovery. She also launched Luminance’s eDiscovery product, the tech group said.
At Kennedys IQ, Davies will work closely with Mike Gilpin, the new Commercial Director of Kennedys IQ. He was formerly the Director of IT at Kennedys the law firm.
Davies’ role within the newly launched business will be to build out the sales process and strategy for IQ Platform tools, as well as working closely with the lawyers to develop the technology, and helping clients with implementation of the technology.
Gilpin said of her appointment: ‘We are delighted to welcome Kimberley to the team here. She brings with her highly relevant experience and a keen interest in legal technology which will be valuable to the growth of the business and enable us to support accelerating interest from clients.’
Davies added: ‘Kennedys IQ is a unique proposition, that leverages unrivalled legal expertise and technology to create tools that offer the most efficient and effective ways to get to the outcomes clients need. I am excited to have joined a team who are offering clients true, proven alternatives to traditional legal services.’