Advice & Counsel work is due for a rethink. In this episode of the UpLevel View, Value Strategies Founder and pricing guru Ken Callander is joined by Collin Smyser, General Counsel of OptionCare, to explore how legal departments are moving beyond the billable hour with fixed monthly retainers. Discover how strategic advisory work is being redefined around accessibility, outcomes, and value, not minutes. Tune in and learn how to lead your legal department into a future where value, not hours, drives results. Subscribe to the UpLevel View and improve your legal leadership vision today!

Guest Additional Info

Collin Smyser is General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Option Care Health. Collin has decades of in-house experience, including companies such as Walgreens, Kimberly-Clark, and Elanco. At Option Care, he leads legal and governance across a nationwide healthcare provider network. Beyond the boardroom, Collin is driving industry-wide change, from policy panels to advocacy for home-based care.

Highlights

• Challenges of hourly rate pricing.

• Predictability and the burden of hourly billing.

• Perception of value in legal services.

• Importance of delivering on pricing commitments.

• Benefits of service level agreements.

• Predictability reduces internal and vendor frictions.

• Scoping advice and counsel work.

• Dealing with changes in the scope of legal work.

• Using advice and counsel work to secure bigger projects.

• Implementing change management for pricing models.

• Handling institutional knowledge in firm transitions.

• Competitive processes sharpen firm proposals.

• Starting small with value-based pricing transformations.

Episode Resources

• UpLevel Ops Master Chef GPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-oVwrdPo0I-master-chef

• UpLevel Ops Wanderlust GPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-eDSeep6qT-wanderlust-guide

• Thought Leadership from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/thoughtleadership/

• LINK (Legal Innovators Network): http://Linkforlegal.com

• Connect with Stephanie Corey

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephcorey-ulo

• https://fr.linkedin.com/company/uplevel-ops

• https://uplevelops.com/

• https://uplevelops.com/legal-operations-consulting/

• https://uplevelops.com/thoughtleadership/

• https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/

• GAI Management Services from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/

• https://www.intel.la/content/www/xl/es/homepage.html

• GAI Management Solutions from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/

• April Miller Boise on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-miller-boise-8913404/

• Stephanie Corey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephcorey-ulo/

• Ken Callander's bio: https://uplevelops.com/our_team/ken-callander/
  Ken's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kencallander/

• UpLevel Ops: http://uplevelops.com/

• Value Strategies from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/valuestrategies/

What does it take to future-proof legal? Intel's CLO, April Miller Boise, joins host Stephanie Corey to unpack how legal teams can drive business value, embrace AI, and rethink spending with value-based pricing. From leadership insights to flexible staffing strategies, this episode is a blueprint for modern legal transformation.

Guest Additional Info

April Miller Boise is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Intel Corporation, where she leads the global legal, trade, and government affairs teams.

Before joining Intel, she served as Chief Legal Officer (CLO) at Eaton Corporation and Meritor Inc. Earlier in her career, she practiced on Wall Street and later led the Cleveland office of Am Law 200 firm Thompson Hine, where she also sat on the executive committee.

With a career spanning complex legal and business environments across various sectors, including semiconductors, automotive, and energy, April brings deep expertise in corporate governance, regulatory strategy, and global risk management.

Highlights

• From legal expert to strategic business partner.

• Creating alignment with company strategy.

• Strategy on a Page (SOAP) method.

• Importance of prioritization in legal work.

• Introducing SWOT Analysis.

• Stop, Start, and Continue exercise for efficiency.

• Alternatives to traditional legal staffing.

• Leveraging flexible legal talent.

• Generative AI: A paradigm shift.

• AI’s potential in knowledge management.

• Training and mentoring in an AI-driven future.

• Expanding access to justice through AI.

• The evolving role of future CLOs.

Episode Resources

• UpLevel Ops Master Chef GPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-oVwrdPo0I-master-chef

• UpLevel Ops Wanderlust GPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-eDSeep6qT-wanderlust-guide

• Thought Leadership from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/thoughtleadership/

• LINK (Legal Innovators Network): http://Linkforlegal.com

• Connect with Stephanie Corey

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephcorey-ulo

• https://fr.linkedin.com/company/uplevel-ops

• https://uplevelops.com/

• https://uplevelops.com/legal-operations-consulting/

• https://uplevelops.com/thoughtleadership/

• https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/

• GAI Management Services from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/

• https://www.intel.la/content/www/xl/es/homepage.html

• GAI Management Solutions from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/

• April Miller Boise on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-miller-boise-8913404/

• Stephanie Corey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephcorey-ulo/

This special episode, hosted by UpLevel Ops CMO Heather Reid, brings together powerful insights from some of Legal Ops’ most respected voices. From sticky-note strategy sessions to global legal transformation, we revisit five standout conversations that showcase how leadership, culture, and community are redefining modern legal departments. Featuring Christy Freer, Janene Asgeirsson, Audrey Taranto, Curt McDaniel, Jenn McCarron, and Mike Haven, this episode is a celebration of the people-first strategies and mindset shifts pushing Legal Ops to the Next Level.

Highlights

• Tapping hidden risks: Humanizing legal tech.

• Janene Asgeirsson on transforming skepticism to tech enthusiasm.

• Staying competitive: Embracing legal technology.

• Capturing business speed and building effective interfaces.

• Audrey Taranto’s business empowerment shift.

• Generative AI and consulting roles in legal.

• From cost center to vision: Legal’s evolving role.

• Curt McDaniel’s scalable, smarter legal services.

• Bridging overwhelms strategic legal operations.

• Legal transformation: A journey of progress.

• Jenn McCarron and Mike Haven: Collaboration’s impact on legal ops.

• Collective innovation driving the legal industry forward.

Episode Resources

• UpLevel Ops Master Chef GPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-oVwrdPo0I-master-chef

• UpLevel Ops Wanderlust GPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-eDSeep6qT-wanderlust-guide

• Thought Leadership from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/thoughtleadership/

• LINK (Legal Innovators Network): http://Linkforlegal.com

• Connect with Stephanie Corey

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephcorey-ulo

• https://fr.linkedin.com/company/uplevel-ops

• https://uplevelops.com/

• https://uplevelops.com/legal-operations-consulting/

• https://uplevelops.com/thoughtleadership/

• https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/

• GAI Management Services from UpLevel Ops: https://uplevelops.com/services/gai-management/