LVN Spotlight: Kylee Harris
Brí McCrory speaks with Kylee Harris, Associate Director of Client Value at Proskauer Rose LLP, about how AI and evolving approaches to legal service delivery are reshaping legal value and pricing. Kylee shares why collaboration across pricing, innovation, and data teams is becoming increasingly important, how proactive communication helps balance speed with quality, and why firms should be more open to new possibilities in pricing and alternative fee arrangements. She also reflects on the relationships she has built through LVN and the value of having a community of professionals navigating many of the same challenges and changes across the industry.
Brí McCrory: Hello and welcome to the LVN Member Spotlight. I’m Brí, Chief Marketing & Revenue Officer at BigHand and also the LVN editor. And today I am joined by Kylee. Kylee, to get started, for those who don’t know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
Kylee Harris: Sure. Hi. My name is Kylee. I am Associate Director on the Client Value team at Proskauer, and I lead our US Corporate vertical. I’m based in the New York office. I’ve been with Proskauer for almost nine years now.
Brí McCrory: Thank you, Kylee. Jumping straight into the questions, what do you think is the biggest challenge facing legal value and pricing professionals today?
Kylee Harris: Sure. I mean, not to use the most buzzword of buzzwords at the beginning, but I do think it’s AI. And I think it’s all the implications of AI.
Of course, the lawyers have to figure out how it’s going to impact their services, more than our teams. But then it’s: what do we do with that? How do we translate it? How do we apply new and different ways of doing legal services to new and different ways of pricing and analyzing historical matters? So it’s everything related to AI, not just the actual tech. For example, we have kind of new and growing teams as well — Innovation, Center of Excellence. How do you work with the different teams, and how do you keep up to date on all the happenings? There’s just lots going on.
Brí McCrory: With your role in Client Value, how are you working with the different teams on it?
Kylee Harris: We’re experimenting with different cadences of meetings. The pace is so quick and everyone’s so busy. I have some touchpoints set up with my counterpart on the innovation side that handles AI in the corporate space. And we’re trying to meet more with the data teams that are trying to manage and clean up the data. But it’s been challenging, honestly. We’re just trying to meet as frequently as possible without taking up too much time, while keeping the information flowing to us and then back to the teams that might need it.
Brí McCrory: What’s the one trend in the legal industry that you think people should be paying more attention to?
Kylee Harris: I think, kind of related, it’s this growing class or type of non-lawyer, both on the business services, innovation and tech side, but also how that same person can support the actual legal work and have more of a role in delivering legal matters. It’s something that pops up here and there, but I think it’s super interesting, and I think we’re going to continue to see that space and that role increasing and evolving.
Brí McCrory: I think you’re right. I think the collaboration between the practice of law and the business of law is accelerating quite quickly, and it’s quite exciting to see.
Kylee Harris: Yeah, that’s the fun part.
Brí McCrory: What’s a common misconception about either legal pricing or legal value, or even in your area, that you think exists in the industry?
Kylee Harris: I guess it depends who you ask, right? Especially when you talk to people who aren’t necessarily in the industry or are adjacent to these roles. A lot of our teams sit in finance. Our team sits in finance here. Maybe there’s a misconception that there’s so much of a focus on driving revenue, on driving profit — which, of course, is part of the game. But I think our role here is just so much bigger. It’s so much more about helping to facilitate all the things internally, liaising between the lawyers and the non-lawyers and driving those connections. We consider ourselves like we understand enough of both worlds to really put all the puzzle pieces together. So I think it’s a more creative, left-side, right-side-of-the-brain experience than most people realize.
Brí McCrory: Looking back in your career, what’s one lesson or experience that has most shaped how you approach your work today?
Kylee Harris: I love this question. There’s always one experience that I remember that is so small and quick, but it really did stick with me. It was in my first role out of college, which was at a publishing corporation. I was an advertising sales assistant, so a whole different world. I was putting together a binder of pages of a magazine, probably, and I was trying to go so fast and just get it done and deliver it to my manager. I just thought that speed was everything, and I made a mistake, as you do when you work too quickly.
I’m pretty sure it was my first mistake in that job. And my manager at the time was just like, “I know you can do this. This is not helpful to me if it’s so fast and wrong. Take that extra second, get it right, and then give it to me.” That idea of slowing down, and that accuracy and doing that extra check is more important than sending something five minutes earlier, has really stuck with me. I try to instill that in my team as well. I’d rather you take a beat, take a walk, come back to that email, and then press send.
Brí McCrory: In a world where it’s so fast-paced and everything’s needed yesterday, what’s your tip for balancing pace with quality?
Kylee Harris: Oh, gosh. I think it’s coming back to that mantra. Speed literally doesn’t help you if ultimately the quality is not there. And you earn more respect from the stakeholders at the firm if — I guess I would say my tip would be communication, right? When I’m working on something and I’m not ready to deliver it yet, but I said it was going to be sent at this time, I’ll touch base with that stakeholder and say, “I am working on this. It is top of mind. It is not ready for your eyes yet.” And then, when you follow up with a great work product, you can earn the respect and the understanding of the people around you so that you’re able to manage both.
At least that’s how I’ve been able to navigate it.
Brí McCrory: That proactive communication can make such a difference, right?
Kylee Harris: Oh, absolutely.
Brí McCrory: How has the LVN community influenced your thinking and your career?
Kylee Harris: I’ve had a great experience with LVN. I’ve been involved for maybe five or six years now, and I’ve been to maybe four of the conferences. I started joining the Extended Committee two or three years ago, and then joined the WIN Committee and Education Committee, and now I’m chairing the WIN Committee.
It’s just been so great to be part of this community.
In your individual firms, maybe you do feel like you have your little teams or your communities in that space. But then to come to this event, or to these meetings or webinars, where there are hundreds of other people doing the same things that you’re doing and having the same problems and going through the same experiences, has just been really cool. And every time I meet someone new — whether it’s you 20 minutes ago or whoever — I’m like, these people are so like-minded to me. I feel like I’ve met my people. I’m in the right community.
So it’s also just reaffirming to my choices.
Brí McCrory: And for those who don’t know what the WIN community within LVN is, do you want to give a quick explanation? Because it’s hugely valuable.
Kylee Harris: Sure. It’s the Women’s Initiative Network, and we’re a group of women professionals in the LVN community. We meet monthly and try to host some meetups virtually or in person. We host some sessions and happy hours at the actual conference. But it’s another subset of the broader community — a really great space to see new faces, meet people, and reconnect with people that you maybe worked with before.
Brí McCrory: Nice. Thank you. Fast forward five years. What excites you most about the future of the legal value and pricing world?
Kylee Harris: I think there’s just a little bit of white space to play with, given all the changes happening so fast. There’s a lot that needs to shake out with what firms are going to rise to the top, what types of firms, all the mergers and the changes and the private equity talks, the technology companies, and the boutique firms working with two people.
There’s just so much happening and changing. And I feel like, as someone at a larger firm who’s navigating this space and seeing what’s out there, there are so many different ways it can go. I think it’s really exciting. And I hope that LVN is the right community to figure out different creative ways to take advantage of this cool new tech that we’re all living through and maybe make some really helpful, positive changes to how the legal industry operates fundamentally.
Brí McCrory: I think it’s becoming far more of a strategic focus because of all the changes we’re seeing on the AI side.
Kylee Harris: Yeah, absolutely. It’s cool. I don’t think anyone really knows. We’re all kind of in the predicting game right now because everything’s moving so fast.
Brí McCrory: I’ve just looked at some market research data that we’ve done, and the reality is everyone’s still figuring it out, but they’re figuring it out together. And I think that’s the part that’s key.
Kylee Harris: Yeah. And that’s the only way to move forward — one inch at a time, and keep guessing for the next step. And then when you get there, guess for the next one.
Brí McCrory: What’s one question you’d like us to ask our next guest?
Kylee Harris: I’m always wondering, kind of back to what we were talking about before: how does your team and your firm interact with the other related business services teams? And I guess specifically thinking about the technology and innovation teams, how have you incorporated that into your pricing strategy?
I think it’s something we’re all talking about, but that’s constantly on the brain.
Brí McCrory: I think that’s probably the most-asked question I see: what’s everyone doing there?
Kylee Harris: Yeah. So not the most original, but that’s what I’ve got.
Brí McCrory: But as all the answers come together, it’ll be great to see.
We’re going to move into a quick-fire question round. Describe the current legal market in three words.
Kylee Harris: Dynamic. Evolving. And interesting. I’ll leave it at that.
Brí McCrory: Thank you. Who is someone in the legal industry you admire and why?
Kylee Harris: I’ll have to throw this back to my original mentor, Elizabeth Satterfield. She’s now slightly outside of this space, but she was the one to bring LPM and really help build our functions here at Proskauer. A lot of us still look up to her, even though she is no longer with the firm. So I’ll throw it out to her.
Brí McCrory: Thank you. What’s one thing law firms should stop doing in 2026?
Kylee Harris: Oh, in 2026? We only have a few months left.
Brí McCrory: I know — four months, five months.
Kylee Harris: Oh, gosh. We should stop limiting ourselves, and we should stop saying, “You can’t put a fixed fee around this,” or, “You can’t put an AFA around this,” and start to just be more open to the world of the possible.
Brí McCrory: Nice. And the final quick-fire question is: what keeps you coming back to LVN?
Kylee Harris: The energy. The people, for sure. And the content is so good and so helpful, and I can always bring it back to the office as well. But it’s really the sense of community and being with your people — and also reuniting with old coworkers, I have to say, has been very fun for me as well.
Brí McCrory: Amazing.
Kylee, you’ve been a great first Member Spotlight interview for me. Thank you so much for making the time.
Kylee Harris: Oh, thanks. Yeah, I think so. So nice to meet you.
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