John O'Donoghue

John O'Donoghue is currently the Global Director of Legal Operations at Ashurst Advance, where he leads a team dedicated to driving excellence, efficiency, and innovation in legal operations worldwide. With over 20 years of experience in the legal industry, John has held significant roles at Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was the Head of Legal Operations for the UK, US, and EMEA, and at Reed Smith LLP, where he served as Strategic Pricing & Legal Project Manager. He is also the founder of The LOPSided Podcast, a community podcast for Legal Operations Professionals. John is known for his expertise in strategic pricing, legal project management, and change management, and his commitment to supporting internal stakeholders and clients to achieve better business outcomes. He holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification and is a patron of the Ben Kinsella Trust, a charity dedicated to raising awareness about knife crime.

John O'Donoghue has extensive experience in the legal industry, particularly in legal operations and strategic pricing. At Herbert Smith Freehills, he served as the Head of Legal Operations for the UK, US, and EMEA regions, where he led the Legal Operations function across these regions. His role involved working with the firmwide executive on Legal Operations Service Design, acting as part of the firm's global data strategy SteerCo, and heading up the Legal Project Management function. He also led the global Third Party Funding & ATE Insurance function and worked closely with senior leaders to design and deliver digital and legal transformation initiatives.

Before joining Herbert Smith Freehills, John worked at Reed Smith LLP as a Strategic Pricing & Legal Project Manager. In this role, he was part of an innovative Client Value team, building new Legal Project Management, Business Innovation, and Strategic Pricing for the UK, US, and EMEA regions. His duties included legal project management, legal process management, strategic pricing, business strategy and innovation, client consultancy, and change management projects.

John's experience also includes roles at Simmons & Simmons, where he managed revenue for various departments.

His diverse background and expertise in legal operations, strategic pricing, and project management have made him a valuable asset in the legal industry.