reflection Archives - Paragon Legal

2024 was one for the record books. It was both one of the most challenging and one of the most rewarding years in my tenure at Paragon—and perhaps in Paragon’s history.

As I reflect on the past year, I can confidently say I haven’t been this excited or optimistic about what lies ahead in a long time. Let me share why.

The legal industry doesn’t stand still, and neither do we. At Paragon, our goal has always been clear: to meet you where you are, providing the talent, insights, and solutions your in-house legal team needs to succeed.

This past year reinforced what we’ve long believed: the right legal talent, deployed at the right time, can make all the difference in helping in-house teams thrive.

And if you stand by your purpose, have a laser focus, and stay true to your values – you too will thrive.

That’s what we did. Guided by our 2024 focus to harness the drive to win, champion change and adaptability, and focus on being the best in the business, here’s what we’ve accomplished and where we’re headed.

Harnessing the Drive to Win

2024 was a year of meaningful wins, powered by our relentless drive to exceed expectations:

Exclusive Partnership with AdvanceLaw: We were honored to be selected as the exclusive flex legal talent partner to AdvanceLaw, a Mitratech company that partners with 350+ GCs to access top quality boutique law firms, and has now expanded to flex legal talent. We were chosen after completing a rigorous vetting process alongside our industry peers, cementing our place as the trusted provider for sophisticated in-house teams.
Record Growth: From where we started the year to where we ended, our trajectory in 2024 was incredible. We achieved unprecedented highs in new clients, new attorneys, and new opportunities created for in-house teams to succeed, marking a banner year for Paragon.

Championing Change and Adaptability

The legal industry is in a unique and ongoing moment of change. This year, we leaned into adaptability to ensure we stayed ahead of your evolving needs:

Cutting-edge AI Partnerships: We forged industry-leading partnerships with Screens.ai and TermScout, empowering our attorneys and clients with impactful and relevant AI capabilities. These partnerships highlight Paragon’s commitment to being a part of the AI revolution, enabling faster and smarter output for our clients and attorneys.
Career Connect Program: In a year when DEI was under fire, we kept our Career Connect program, creating opportunities for two deserving law school grads who are now valued members of our team.

Focusing on Being the Best in the Business

2024 was a year of excellence at Paragon:

Unmatched NPS Scores: Our industry-leading Net Promoter Scores (NPS) of 79 and employee NPS (eNPS) of 80 underscored our dedication to delivering exceptional value and satisfaction to both our clients and team.
Client Referral Program: We launched our client referral program to acknowledge and give back to our network for what they’re already doing in sharing the Paragon experience – a network that is a source of tremendous pride and gratitude.
Geographic Expansion: From Florida to Alaska, we expanded our geographic footprint across the United States to be where you need us most.

Looking Ahead

As we move into 2025, the legal landscape remains dynamic and full of opportunity. Here is what we see on the horizon:

Budgets Are Back: Legal chiefs are ready to invest strategically, reflecting renewed confidence in the business and the value of rightsourcing – especially since legal teams are busier than ever.
Regulatory Uncertainty: The regulatory environment is undoubtedly about to change, with loosening regulations creating paralyzing uncertainty in some cases and freedom to move quickly in others, requiring legal teams to navigate these shifts with agility.
AI Curiosity Continues: While legal teams are still exploring and intrigued by AI’s potential role, we anticipate only incremental clarity on uses and regulations – a significant shift isn’t likely just yet.
Flex Talent on the Rise: A surprising number of our new clients have never used flex legal talent before. Some legal departments are dipping their toe in for the first time, some are expanding their use, and all are exploring new use cases to make their teams more nimble, productive, and efficient. Paragon is here to help you tackle these opportunities and challenges with confidence.

At Paragon, our mission remains steadfast: to make in-house legal practice more flexible, more efficient, and more rewarding.

Thank you for trusting us to be your partner in 2024. We’re excited to continue helping your team thrive in the year ahead. And thanks to our attorneys, legal professionals, and internal team members—the heartbeat of Paragon—who make what we do possible.

Cheers!

Trista Engel
CEO, Paragon Legal

February 22, 2024

Trista Engel, CEO, Paragon Legal

It’s February – a perfect time to remind ourselves of our New Year’s resolutions that were once so present in our minds but in many cases by now have been forgotten. I love New Year’s resolutions. Not because I am someone who likes to set a discrete goal that I can measure in 365 days, but because I am someone who loves the opportunity to be intentional, to decide who I want to be and how I want to show up, and then make a plan for how to do it differently and better.

John Dewey astutely said: “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” New Year’s resolutions are really about who you want to be in the coming year. The most powerful part of reflection is the action we resolve to take based on what we’ve learned.

The truth is that 2023 was a difficult year. It was a year fraught with geopolitical strife, constant uncertainty, mass layoffs, looming recession fears, and RTO turmoil.

As I’ve shared before, when times get tough, we turn to our values to remind us who we are and to our management philosophy to shine light on where we want to go.

Here’s what we learned this year that forms the foundation of our New Year’s resolution (aka our management philosophy) for 2024.

Our clients are in the same business we are in: That business is client service. That means our job goes beyond the service we provide and extends to how flexible legal talent can enable your legal team to serve your internal clients even better. Spoiler alert: That’s EXACTLY why we’re here. Let us show you how our job is to make your job easier.

Our client and attorney experience matters: Your experience matters to you, and we take that seriously. In a challenging year all around, Paragon steadfastly maintained industry-leading client and attorney satisfaction ratings. Our client Net Promoter Score (NPS, on a scale of -100 to 100) was consistently above 70, an industry high water mark. Our attorney NPS has not dropped below 80. Our commitment to your success is unmatched in this industry, it has been since our founding, and it shows.

“Paragon is the Gold Standard”: Our market survey of current clients, former clients, and prospective clients revealed overwhelmingly positive feedback on the quality of Paragon’s talent and our high level of client service. One client shared: “Paragon is the ‘Gold Standard’ in what they do.” Our deep expertise in this space, our focus on exercising care and judgment in the match, and our bespoke approach to each engagement allows us to make sure you get the help you need when you need it.

Culture, collaboration, and continuous learning lead to growth: Something we’ve always focused on and never compromised is our culture. In a challenging year, I’m most proud of our team’s resilience, drive, dedication to our clients, support of our attorneys, and encouragement of one another. Even as we have added new team members, the engagement, collaboration, continuous improvement from the Paragon corporate team is unmatched. I am so excited to be adding more people to our corporate team in 2024.

The legal industry is in a unique moment of change: With ever-increasing regulation, the emergence of accessible AI, and the renewed focus on cost-control and efficiency, the legal industry is changing faster than ever. Paragon is committed to helping you navigate those changes – we were the first in the industry to equip our attorney team with cutting edge AI contract technology, we have gathered and shared expert views on keeping up with data privacy and cybersecurity regulations, and we have maintained our commitment to advancing equality in the legal profession. We will continue to help our clients and attorneys be prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Our management philosophy for 2024 is to harness and leverage that which makes us unique – our nimbleness, our drive to win, and the quality talent and client service that make us the best in the biz. We are one of the largest in our field with a boutique feel and a focus on the human touch. We operate with integrity, we value relationships over transactions, and we live by our values.

We begin 2024 with great excitement and optimism for the year ahead. Flexible legal talent has never been more relevant to address the challenges faced by in-house legal departments today, as they grapple with limited resources, growing workloads, stretched team members, budget pressures, and the need to show their value.

We’re passionate about making in-house legal practice a better experience for clients and attorneys alike: more flexible, more efficient, and more rewarding.

We look forward to being a part of your success in 2024 and to an exceptional experience every time.

Cheers!

Trista Engel
CEO, Paragon Legal