Inside the Innovation Loop: Real Lessons from Ropes & Gray — First-hand Insights from Winston Burt and Theresa Spartichino
- cosmonauts
- Oct 20
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 22
Future Lawyer USA is just around the corner, and we’re excited to share our latest interview with Winston Burt and Theresa Spartichino, who both lead legal technology and innovation at Ropes & Gray, our event partner.
As co-chairs of the conference, Winston and Theresa will guide two days of dynamic discussions on the intersection of law, technology, and innovation. Drawing on their extensive experience at Ropes & Gray, they provide unique insight into how legal tech can be implemented effectively across different practice groups to drive efficiency, collaboration, and client value.
Winston, Director of Legal Technology, focuses on implementing tools and solutions that help attorneys work smarter and enhance operational performance. Theresa, Director of Practice Technology, brings over 20 years of experience spanning litigation and technology, leading initiatives that embed innovation into the firm’s culture and workflows.
In this exclusive interview, Winston and Theresa share first-hand insights on turning legal tech experimentation into scalable, everyday advantages - from fostering a culture of innovation to leveraging AI and data to optimize legal practice.
Read the full interview and discover how Ropes & Gray is shaping the future of legal innovation.
What are the most effective strategies for turning legal tech experiments into scalable solutions that deliver measurable value?
THERESA: Every practice group works differently, and what works in one group may not be the perfect fit solution for another group. Some want clear direction “use this new platform to accomplish this X task.” Others are excited to experiment as they go.
Whether it’s a tool that solves a specific problem or an attorney sharing something they discovered on their own, the real key is how those ideas get shared. Maybe it’s a quick mention at a group lunch, a short training webinar, or a partner endorsement. There isn’t a single universal right approach.
WINSTON: Completely agree. It’s helpful to get a better understanding of how the different practices work, then advise on where technology best fits. But like Theresa said, how that message gets delivered matters just as much as the solution itself.
With AI increasingly transforming legal practice, what are the biggest challenges in scaling AI tools across teams, and how to best overcome them?
WINSTON: AI is evolving very quickly, so what worked six months ago may be surpassed by a new product on the market now. We've built flexibility into our approach with shorter vendor contracts that let us pivot rather than locking into a single platform.
On adoption, we've taken a few approaches. We work directly with practice group leadership to identify pain points and explore solutions together. Our training integrates tools into existing workflows. We create documentation that maps tools to functions, not just application instructions. We also established an associate technology group that's been invaluable for spreading ideas across practice groups.
Collecting and sharing concrete wins has been our most effective tactic, providing real examples for others to learn from. We launched a newsletter to highlight success stories and new features. The biggest impact came when our leadership team made AI-technology adoption a firm-wide priority and encouraged everyone to discuss it with clients.
Demonstrating ROI is complex because value shows up in multiple ways: reduced non-billable work, increased output, talent retention, and risk mitigation. We've learned to evaluate all these dimensions rather than focusing solely on billable hour metrics.
THERESA: I agree, especially about the pace of change. Solutions that looked promising a few months ago can evolve overnight, so our approach has to evolve too. Since our Practice Tech team works across all the practice groups, we have visibility into many of the projects attorneys are testing. Sometimes one of our team members will spot how a solution developed for one group could also solve a similar problem elsewhere. We document those use cases and work closely with our Legal KM counterparts to share and adapt those ideas across the firm. This loop of feedback and knowledge-sharing is what turns adoption into real, lasting change.
How do you foster a culture of experimentation and innovation among attorneys, and what lessons have you learned from early GenAI pilots?
THERESA: As Winston mentioned, the tools evolve quickly, and so do the ways attorneys use them. With new large language models coming out all the time, we often revisit use cases that didn’t work the first time to see if they perform better with new capabilities. It’s a continuous cycle of learning, testing, and improving.
What makes this work is that our attorneys are involved from the start. We document the use cases for each group and then look for opportunities to apply those solutions in other practice areas. That’s how we identify what really adds value and scale it across the firm.
When we discover a successful approach, our team collaborates with Legal KM to create a process playbook. We highlight the approach on our internal intranet so colleagues can learn from one another, and we add the technology to the relevant practice group’s tech stack. This straightforward method effectively captures lessons in real time.
WINSTON: Technology capabilities are constantly evolving, so understanding attorney needs is crucial. As Theresa noted, documentation is key. Attorneys focus on what tool to use for each task, not the tool’s name or features. Clear guidance is essential.
Legal performance dashboards and data analytics are becoming essential. How do you leverage insights from data science to inform strategic decisions in practice and client services?
WINSTON: We track user metrics closely and can slice and dice the data in a number of ways. We built a use case dashboard that tracks ongoing initiatives and requests by practice group. It also helps identify projects and ideas worth sharing firm-wide. This has been huge for avoiding redundant work. When one group solves a problem, we can quickly spot similar challenges elsewhere and share the solution.
THERESA: Monthly user metrics are really helpful. With all the constant platform upgrades, we often see similar features showing up across different tools. The data helps us spot patterns, like when users shift from one platform to another after a new feature is released. We also see how preferences vary by group. One practice group might rely on a certain platform for their use case, while another prefers a different tool that does something similar.
But it’s not all about the numbers. The metrics are just a starting point. We still need to meet with the attorneys to understand why they are choosing certain tools and what is driving their preferences. Those meetings help us decide where to invest our time, focus training, or invest licenses.
As technology adoption accelerates, how do you balance a tech-first approach with the human elements of building resilient, skilled legal teams for the future?
THERESA: Technology is evolving so quickly that almost every platform we use either already has a GenAI feature or soon will. What used to feel like “new tech” is now part of the everyday toolkit. In many cases, we’re not introducing new tools—we’re reintroducing attorneys to the tools they already know, now enhanced with smarter capabilities.
Our team works closely with attorneys to connect technology to real use cases and show how it fits naturally into their workflows. Instead of offering generic training, we often partner with attorney champions who can demonstrate how they’re using a tool in practice.
AI is enhancing collaboration across practice groups and seniority levels. Our Practice Tech Committee brings together attorneys from various groups and experience levels. When one attorney shares a product use case, it sparks new ideas for others to potentially apply within their own areas.
What are you most looking forward to at Future Lawyer USA this year?
WINSTON: The most valuable aspect of conferences is connecting with attendees about real-world practices rather than aspirations. I look forward to discussing how we’re preparing future lawyers for a rapidly changing profession.
THERESA: This is my first time chairing (co-chairing) a conference, and I’m excited for the opportunity to connect with Boston’s legal innovation community and visiting legal tech colleagues. I look forward to hearing real use cases and practical lessons, and hope to leave with actionable ideas for our attorneys.
Meet Winston Burt, Theresa Spartichino, and other leading legal experts at Future Lawyer USA – Boston on October 29–30. Complimentary passes are available for Private Practice and In-House professionals.
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