Kristi Thompson on legal leadership at CMA CGM America

As an undergrad at the University of Arkansas, Kristi Thompson wasn’t sure what career path to take. She enjoyed her political science classes and took enough history courses to double major, but couldn’t figure out how to bring the two together.

During her senior year, while friends prepared for the LSAT, Thompson decided to study too. She did well enough to get into law school and earn financial aid to offset the cost.

At the University of Arkansas School of Law, Thompson found that law brought together her passion for the corporate world and international affairs.

“I didn’t know what kind of law I wanted to practice, so I took some employment law and international law classes. That’s where I found my passion.”

Early Career and the Move In-House

After law school, Thompson joined the Asa Hutchinson Law Group, led by Arkansas’s current governor. As the firm’s lone associate, her work spanned white-collar criminal defense, immigration law, human trafficking cases, and employment law.

After three years in private practice, she began thinking about becoming an in-house attorney. To strengthen that opportunity, she earned a master’s degree in law from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and was named a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar.

“I studied international law and wanted to work for a company doing business law, social governance and corporate responsibility. I wanted to feel good about working for a major corporation.”

Now with 12 years of legal experience, Thompson serves as Deputy General Counsel, Commercial for CMA CGM, a French container transportation and shipping company.

A Game Changer: Automation in Legal

Thompson joined CMA CGM as an associate general counsel in 2013, knowing little about maritime law. She learned the ropes by partnering closely with business clients to understand maritime and land operations. She became senior counsel in 2018 and was promoted to her current role in June 2022.

“Transportation is an exciting industry to work in, especially right now, and it certainly has its challenges. But with the right team and the right tools, we are creating the best product we can for our clients and internal partners.”

Throughout her career, she’s found that building synergies among business partners starts with communication and innovation. Digital tools and automation have become a game-changer, especially in maritime legal.

Streamlining Contract Review

Traditionally, contract review required all hands on deck, even senior attorneys spent hours ensuring compliance with international maritime law and interstate commerce regulations.

“The initial review of a customer service contract, just the time spent to read through the document and identify issues related to legal and commercial terms, can take hours. Organizations needed tools that could assist with preliminary contract review, and automation seems like the answer.”

Investing in new tools saves hours each week on preliminary review, letting attorneys focus on more complex issues. Having important data in one place allows legal teams to be more data-oriented in their decision-making.

Aligning Legal with Business Needs

Thompson says automation helps align legal activities with the organization’s broader business goals. Tools like DocJuris identify risks during contract negotiation, allow lawyers to make edits, implement standard provisions, and automate initial review.

“The more you use the tool, the smarter and more cost effective it becomes. We don’t want senior attorneys doing entry-level work, and we didn’t want to push certain work down to the junior levels.”

Building Better Workflows

Thompson’s team is improving communication with internal partners through a transparent, standardized, and automated intake process.

“We rely heavily on Microsoft Office, which probably has a solution for this, but we haven’t found the right one yet. When you’re faced with a heavy workload, organization is crucial.”

The legal team is collecting data on its work, recognizing trends, and searching for root causes of bottlenecks. The goal is to put resources where the greatest need is and properly prioritize tasks for the business.

As organizations limit the use of outside counsel for specialized work, automation strikes the right balance to manage increasingly demanding workloads.

“Technology isn’t the only answer, but it’s a big part of what teams like ours are doing to be more efficient and a better partner for the business.”