Opening Plenary: Unlock the Secret(s) to Success — Take Your Legal Operations Function to New Heights

Monday, April 20, 2026

4:15 PM - 5:30 PM CT

Location: Grand Ballroom - Salon II

Join this year’s ACC Value Champions as they reveal how their award-winning legal departments achieved transformative results across cost management, operational efficiency, and technology-enabled innovation. Drawing from three high-impact initiatives this session unpacks the practical strategies that propelled their legal operations teams forward.

You’ll learn how leading departments reduced legal spend while expanding internal capacity, increased budget predictability through disciplined matter scoping and structured intake, and accelerated cycle times by embedding standards, automation, and integrated technology into daily workflows.

Walk away with actionable insights you can deploy immediately to modernize your function, improve outcomes, and elevate your role as a strategic partner to the business.

Speaker(s)

Mishele Kieffer

IP Director, Freedom to Operate
Medtronic
Lafayette, Colorado, United States
Dan Lin

Co-Founder
Crane Patents
San Francisco, California, United States
NR

Nikki Rahimzadeh

Senior Director, Legal & Risk Operations & Strategy
Analog Devices, Inc.
Heather L. Reid

Chief Marketing Officer
UpLevel Ops
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Krista Schwarze

Commercial Operations Manager of North America
Rovensa Group

Sponsor Speaker(s)

Evan Wong

CEO & Co-Founder
Checkbox