Mary O'Carroll

Pioneers and Pathfinders

Today we are joined by Mary O'Carroll, a true pioneer and pathfinder in the legal industry. Mary is Chief Community Officer at Ironclad, a leading contract lifecycle management program for innovative companies. She started her career in business development and consulting before joining Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in a finance role. Her work soon transitioned into a legal operations role—a function that was practically nonexistent in law firms at the time. Mary was later hired by Google, where she built and managed the operations of the legal department as the Director of Operations, Technology, and Strategy. While at the company, she co-founded the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), a global community dedicated to transforming the business and practice of law. Mary continues her mission to drive change in the legal industry. She is a frequent public speaker and media contributor, and she hosts the Ironclad podcast Pearls On, Gloves Off. In our wide-ranging discussion, Mary tells us about her unexpected entry into the legal field, the origin story of CLOC, how generative AI may change legal ops, and what excites her about joining Ironclad.