Paul Hastings’ high profile managing director for innovation and knowledge, Nicola (Nikki) Shaver, is departing the transatlantic law firm to work full time on global directory LegalTechnologyHub, as Jeroen Plink – former CEO of Clifford Chance Applied Solutions – joins her as full-time co-founder and fellow investor.
Shaver and her husband Chris Ford launched LTH in October 2020 to ‘democratise legal technology’ by helping legal professionals to find products and solutions across the globe. You can read more about its inception here: https://legaltechnology.com/2020/10/13/legaltech-hub-launches-to-democratise-legal-technology/
She has continued to work at Paul Hastings. However that changed when Plink, who recently completed an eight month stint as interim chief revenue officer for legal research platform Casetext, decided to come on board as full-time investor and co-founder. Shaver’s last day at Paul Hastings was 28 January and the pair are now working full time on growing the new business.
In February they will relaunch the freemium website but build out their premium offering, including enabling vendors to buy enhanced profiles. In June, they plan to launch the first of many deep dive industry reports, which will be paid for by subscription.
Speaking to Legal IT Insider, Shaver said: “When Jeroen decided to come onboard full time it required both of us to build this out to what we want it to be. It’s an amazing opportunity to work with Jeroen and I love the idea of us working with all verticals and creating something that is both beneficial and that will move the dial on change. It will allow me to have a greater impact than working for one firm and it touches many parts of the industry.”
Plink, meanwhile, told us: “I had the idea to do something like this for a long time. When I realised I could do something with Nikki, given that she is such a leader in the content space and has such an understanding of the technology, I felt confident to make the leap and do this full time.”
Shaver is CEO and Plink COO of LTH. Shaver said: “We have incredibly complementary skill sets and it’s so much fun to join forces and work together.”