Legal Consultant Limelight: Gulam Zade

Gulam Zade is CEO of LOGICFORCE, a legal technology services firm headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. Zade joined the firm as general counsel, and previously worked in private practice doing bankruptcy and corporate insolvency work. He received his J.D. from Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

Lawdragon: Can you describe for our readers the services that LOGICFORCE provides?

Gulam Zade: LOGICFORCE is a technology consulting firm that improves the profitability and operations of mid-size law firms through the strategic application of technology. Our services include IT optimization, cybersecurity planning, management and incident response, eDiscovery management, and digital forensic investigations and collections.

We support law firms across the country with a focus on the Southeast and Midwest, customizing our service delivery model to fit each client’s business goals and requirements through a proprietary assessment process known as Synthesis E-IT Secure®, or SEITS®, which is the only IT tool of its kind for the legal industry. Based on our assessment, we supply the client with the appropriate best-in-class technologies, complemented by specially designed work processes that are supported on or offsite by our team of professionals. Our law firm partners pay a low monthly fee, effectively negating the need for any future capital expenditures and eliminating the possibility of technology obsolescence. Clients can expect measurable profitability gains with a capacity to scale for work from their clients that was previously unattainable in their old model. We also ensure our law firm clients will not lose a client due to a failed data security audit.

LD: What trends are you seeing in the industry that are affecting the work you do?

GZ: The adoption of cloud services is a trend that is taking the legal world -- and tech world at large -- by storm. Cloud services drive efficiency, reduce costs, and increase security at law firms. While cloud usage in the legal industry continues to increase, many firms are wasting resources and money along the way because of poor planning and implementation. Law firms tend to make cloud purchasing decisions in silos without evaluating how to properly integrate each cloud service offering into their current IT environment.

LOGICFORCE is frequently engaged to help firms properly align their technology ecosystem with their business goals. This improves firm operating efficiencies, reduces costs, and provides predictability of annual IT spend.

LD: What advice do you have for young professionals looking to build their careers?

GZ: It’s important to never underestimate the impact that one person can have on your life when you’re least expecting it. Always strive to make a good impression because you never know how someone can help you in the future or vice versa.

Five years ago, a sales rep I’d done business with before asked me to lunch. I agreed and thought his intention was simply to sell me services. During the meeting, he surprised me by offering me a role with LOGICFORCE. I’ve had an outstanding five years (and counting) because I said yes to lunch!

LD: Do you have specific challenges or lessons that come from working with lawyers in tech?

GZ: From my experience as both an attorney and executive in the technology sector, I have learned that legal professionals can be stubborn, especially when it comes to adopting new technology. Law firms hold sensitive data that must be protected, and in the wake of many cyberattacks, it’s understandable why lawyers are cautious about technology. The law firms we work with demand evidence of top-notch security and results that can’t be refuted. Understanding this has helped us shape our business around the specific needs of law firms and ensure that their data security and operational efficiency are our top priorities.

LD: What’s on the horizon with your firm? Any new innovations?

GZ: LOGICFORCE will continue to help mid-sized law firms across the United States fully embrace the power of the cloud and specialized legal technology so they can achieve greater efficiency and profitability. Our team has successfully developed a suite of services, including New Style of Legal IT®, or NSLIT®, that is revolutionizing the way law firms utilize and pay for IT. We will continue to hone our services and ensure we’re offering the best technology available on the market.

LD: There are many high-quality tech support firms out there. What’s the bottom line on how LOGICFORCE stands out?

GZ: Since 1995, over 1,000 law firms nationwide have trusted LOGICFORCE to align their business and technology strategies to improve operating efficiencies, reduce costs and sustain predictable IT spend. As a result, our clients have seen an increase in billables, an improvement in margins as well as the ability to handle additional cases.

LD: Are you involved in any community or public interest activities?

GZ: Professionally, the biggest impact I have had on our community is making LOGICFORCE a place people want to work. It is extremely important that we foster a culture that listens to employees, understands their needs and helps them reach their goals in and out of the office. Our most significant accomplishment is being voted one of Middle Tennessee’s Top Workplaces for the past three years, an award solely based on employee surveys. As our firm grows, we continue to prioritize and heavily invest in our team’s success, which has allowed us to build an award-winning culture and attract and retain world-class talent.

I’ve also made my involvement in the community a priority by serving on professional boards that develop and advance young lawyers, including the Nashville Bar Association’s Young Leaders Division board. In my role as YLD president, I lead the annual Nashville mock trial competition for Davidson County High School students and Race Judicata, an annual 5K and 10K, which raises thousands of dollars for Able Youth and Achilles International Nashville. I chair the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s young leaders board and was named a Top 30 Under 30 award recipient in 2016 for professional and charitable accomplishments.

Additionally, as co-chair of the Nashville Bar Foundation Leadership Forum, I lead a steering committee of attorneys from across Nashville that hosts a 9-month leadership program for young attorneys. The program offers innovative opportunities to learn, collaborate, network and serve the local community and the legal profession through monthly workshops and activities focusing on local legal and community issues. The NBF Leadership Forum encourages diversity in the practice of law and helps build relationships among attorneys with diverse backgrounds and practices. The attorneys that graduate from the program have gone on to hold leadership positions in their respective law firms, companies and communities as well as elected positions in Nashville.