CCBJ recently unveiled our 2024 list of 50 Women to Watch. Please join us in celebrating these game-changers in our industry.
Laura Richardson, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Agiloft, Inc.
Laura Richardson, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Agiloft, Inc., is a long-time champion of Legal Ops and Legal Tech and an experienced technology and business attorney who enjoys applying her broad background to help companies scale purposefully.
She recently helped lead Agiloft through its majority stake acquisition by KKR. Before joining Agiloft, Laura was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Osso VR and Senior Counsel at Intel Corporation.
Laura is also a former litigator, serving as a Judicial Clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee before entering private practice at Sidley Austin in Los Angeles and then at Lane Powell in Portland.
She has a JD from the UCLA School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College.
CCBJ asked each of our candidates to pass it forward with a few words of wisdom for the next generation.
What advice would you offer your younger self?
So much advice that I would love to give my younger self that I would not take/not know how to take (sigh) but if I had to pick just one, don't live your life to make other people comfortable.
Please describe your proudest individual or team achievement.
The fact that my team feels comfortable setting boundaries, taking time off and raising their concerns directly and promptly. The impact of psychological safety on teaming cannot be overstated.
Kindly share the most influential piece of advice (professional or personal) you have received?
One of my favorite law school professors gave me this advice when I was spinning my wheels trying to write a massive research paper, "Perfect is the enemy of the good." It is simple but incredibly impactful when put into practice.
Where would you see the legal profession in 10+ years?
Where I hope to see it: no more legalese, legal seen as a value driving function, legal professionals using AI tools fluently to extend their impact, increased focus on wellness so that burnout isn't a common occurrence, the continued improvement of legal-owned enterprise solutions like CLM helping legal teams scale at the speed of the business(es) they support.
What are your favorite books, professional sports, entertainment and/or extracurricular activities?
My favorite books are:
- Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
- The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett
- Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies, by Ben Macintyre
I learned so much from all of these books but mostly, not to take myself too seriously.
Please include a quote that inspires you.
"Nonsense is not scalable."
Published January 15, 2025.
