Listen, Shape, Deliver | Clarke Willmott

1 About Me 20 years in high-stakes, regulated industries ⌄

Career History

20

Years

5

Organisations

4

Sectors

IT Leadership

Throughout

2025 – Present

Steele Raymond

Law firm · Bournemouth · ~150

IT Director iManage Cloud PMS replacement IT strategy legal sector

2021 – 2025

InfoTrack UK

Legal tech · London · ~350

Head of IT ISO 27001 rapid growth SLT security posture legal tech

2018 – 2021

Keeler Medical

Medical manufacturing · Windsor · ~165

Head of IT M&A board-level regulated UK & US

2014 – 2018

L-3 Security & Detection Systems

Defence · Bracknell · ~450

Head of IT data strategy new revenue stream customer retention

2005 – 2014

Early career · Barloworld Handling, Steel Construction Institute

Expertise & Experience

IT strategy and organisational leadership

Defined and delivered multi-year IT strategies across law, legal technology and regulated manufacturing. Board-level stakeholder engagement, technology roadmap ownership, investment planning and aligning IT capability to business growth objectives.

ISO 27001

Multiple implementations across legal and regulated environments. Led certification programmes from gap analysis through to audit and accreditation.

Cyber security

Controls design, incident response planning, BCDR and regulatory compliance. Experienced in building security posture from the ground up.

Vendor governance

Supplier selection, contract negotiation, SLA management and performance oversight. Experienced in resetting underperforming managed service relationships.

M&A technology

IT due diligence, integration planning and post-acquisition stabilisation. Led technology workstreams through acquisition at Keeler Medical.

AI & automation

Governing adoption before it governs you. Experienced in building acceptable use frameworks and identifying genuine automation opportunities.

Developing effective teams

Built and developed multi-disciplined IT teams across law, legal tech and manufacturing. Focused on psychological safety, clear accountability and doing their best work.

2 Opening Position The principles I bring through the door on day one ⌄

01

No preconceived ideas

Every firm is different. I start by listening and seeking to deeply understand the challenges and the opportunities. I commit to bringing an open mind and truly listening for the signals when I walk through the door. This enables informed decisions. Where a strategy is already delivering and a team is already trusted, continuity has real value. My job is to build on that, not replace it.

02

Doing this with you, not to you

Change works best when people are part of making it happen. I work closely with teams to understand what they need and what we are trying to overcome, then involve them in what comes next.

03

Foundations before features

Security, resilience and governance underpin everything. Law firms trade on reliability and credibility. For a firm like Clarke Willmott, that foundation is what clients trust when they hand over sensitive matters. Before doing anything truly innovative, let us check those foundations and be confident we are ready to build great things.

04

Commercial awareness

IT exists to help the firm win work, serve clients well and run profitably. Every investment needs a return, whether that is time saved, risk reduced or a better client experience. I keep that commercial lens on throughout, and I measure IT's value in outcomes the business can feel.

3 The Framework Understand deeply before acting decisively ⌄

Listen

Days 1 to 30

Meet the people, map the technology and find the friction. Build a complete picture before forming any view.

Shape

Days 31 to 60

Validate what has been learned. Sense-check findings with leadership. Present options, not mandates.

Deliver

Days 61 to 90

Fix the foundations first: security, governance and supplier accountability. Quick wins follow. Strategic initiatives when the platform is stable.

4 1 | Listen Days 1 to 30 · Build knowledge before forming views ⌄

People first

Meet partners, divisional and regional Directors, and practice leads. Understand what success looks like from their perspective. The fee-earner's day, not just IT's.
Meet every IT team member. Understand capability, culture and what is already in motion.
Meet key suppliers. Understand contractual position, service commitments and current performance.
Understand what is already in motion. Initiatives and projects will already be underway. My first task is to understand those projects, the priorities, and to drive their successful delivery. Learning in the process, without pausing progress.

Technology landscape

Full inventory of systems and integrations. What exists, who relies on it and why it matters.
Security and risk posture. Where controls are strong, where they are not and what is already managed.
Programmes already in flight. What is committed, what is stalled and what has no clear owner.

What I am listening for

What is working well. Things that should be protected, not changed.
Where friction slows the people who rely on IT. Technology that gets in the way rather than helping.
Where quick wins exist. Improvements available without disruption or long lead times.
Where IT and operations are not joined up. Systems and processes that create work for operational teams rather than reducing it.

The first 30 days are active, not passive. Listening does not mean standing still. Where there are clear opportunities for improvement that can be acted on without disruption or risk, I will act on them. The priority is always understanding first, so that action is informed, considered and well-timed.

5 2 | Shape Days 31 to 60 · Validate findings and shape recommendations ⌄

Confirm and sense-check

State of the Nation summary. A concise document covering key findings, risks, themes and early opportunities. Not a report for its own sake.
Validate with leadership, relevant partners and operational leads. The divisions and operational teams will have a view that does not always reach the top. ‘Have I understood this correctly?’ Not ‘Here is what is wrong.’
Test assumptions against what people experience. What appears in reports does not always match what happens day to day.

Form recommendations

Priorities shaped by evidence, not instinct. Findings from Step 1 become structured recommendations with clear rationale.
Present options, not mandates. I bring expertise and a recommended direction. Decisions stay where they belong.
Identify what moves first and why. Not everything can be a priority. Sequencing matters as much as selection.

Asking ‘help me understand why we do it this way’ is not the same as saying it is wrong. The purpose is curiosity, not disruption.

6 3 | Deliver Days 61 to 90 · Foundations first. Quick wins next. Strategic initiatives when the platform is ready. ⌄

Fix the foundations

Security, compliance and risk controls
Governance and change management
Supplier accountability and SLA clarity
Anything that creates exposure gets addressed before anything new is built on top

Deliver quick wins

Improvements identified in Step 1
Low-risk, visible changes
Things that reduce friction for the people who rely on IT
Visible early progress builds credibility and trust across the firm. For fee-earning teams, that means fewer technology frustrations in the working day. For operational leadership, it means IT that runs quietly and reliably.

Begin strategic initiatives

AI and automation; governed and purposeful
Data integration and reporting
Longer-term transformation programmes
Only once the foundations are stable. Built to last, not rushed to impress

7 When we met, Peter and Dan told me… Early signals worth exploring ⌄

What follows reflects what I heard and understood from our first conversation. These are not prescribed starting points. They are areas I picked up on and felt were worth exploring further when I arrive.

Document Management

iManage Cloud migration

A migration I have already delivered. I would want to understand the current state, migration scope, timelines and dependencies before forming a view on approach.

Data and Reporting

Integrated data and clearer reports

I heard that pulling together a clear picture of firm performance currently requires data from several different systems. Understanding whether that is still the case, and what appetite exists to address it, would be an early conversation.

Financial Systems

ELITE 3E and the day-to-day experience

ELITE is acknowledged as being a strong financial management platform. I would want to understand how it is being used day to day, where it works well and where any friction exists, particularly for the fee earners, before forming a view on what, if anything, needs attention.

Supplier Management

Managed service relationship

I understand significant work has been done to improve the Xerox arrangement. I would want to understand the current contractual position, performance levels and where accountability sits before forming any view.

8 What Success Looks, Feels and Sounds Like Solid foundations for long-term success ⌄

Measuring success against the objectives we set out is necessary, but not sufficient. What matters equally is how change is experienced by the people it affects. The look, feel and sound of success reflect that human dimension alongside the measurable one.

01

Trusted, Stable and Approachable

IT is reliable and resilient. It is not a source of anxiety for the business. People trust it to work; when something goes wrong, they trust us to fix it.

02

Partnering, not serving

IT is part of business conversations, not on the receiving end of them. We understand what the firm needs and help shape how to get there.

03

Change that sticks

Improvements are delivered in a way people adopt and rely on. Not projects that are technically complete but practically ignored.

04

A team that is confident

The IT team knows where it is going, why it matters and how its work connects to the success of the firm. Clear ownership, clear direction.

Look. Success looks like measurable improvement. Performance is up, matter throughput is faster, and the numbers reflect a firm running more efficiently.

Sound. Success sounds like fee earners who are not thinking about their technology. Fewer calls to the helpdesk, fewer workarounds, and a team that talks about IT as something that helps rather than hinders.

Feel. Success feels like confidence. Teams know what is being worked on and why. There is a shared sense of direction, and the tools available match the ambition of the people using them.