The people of Litera — also known as “Literans” — have been developing innovative technology to transform the way legal teams work, enabling those teams to focus on the meaningful work they love. The company’s tagline for its customers is “Litera. Less busy work. More of your life’s work.”
Since its beginning more than 25 years ago, Litera’s software solutions — and its team — have expanded rapidly, maturing into a suite of user-first, best-in-class tools across legal work, including document drafting, transaction management, firm intelligence and firm governance.
Acquisitions have continued to fuel Litera’s growth in the past two years, and its’ team now comprises more than 1,000 Literans worldwide, with a diverse global presence.
The most impressive aspect of this growth is that, through it all, a healthy culture has been steadfast and the company’s focus on its mission and values has never waned.
Certainly, the growth, increased diversity and acquisitive nature of the business have caused the culture to evolve, as any strong culture should. The mission-driven nature fueling Literans has underscored this evolution, powering not only its team’s daily work but also its recruiting and retention efforts.
In March 2023, when former litigation attorney turned HR executive Michelle Meurer joined Litera as Chief People Officer, Built In was eager to interview her to learn more about Litera’s culture and her vision for leading it.
Let’s start by hearing about your role. What are your responsibilities at Litera?
I lead the entire People team. Our Literans are the differentiator for Litera, and I have the privilege of leading the People team, which is responsible for every aspect of our employee lifecycle. From the moment a person learns about Litera — whether on social media platforms, through word of mouth or another medium — through every step of the journey, the Litera People team is there. We are responsible for recruiting, onboarding, learning and development, organizational design and talent planning — just to name a few.
What’s your vision for leading your team? How is your organizational approach unique?
My vision and approach are very different from most People team leaders in that I believe we can best contribute to the business by being business leaders first, with People/Human Resources tools in our toolkit. It’s only by completely understanding and fully embracing the goals of the business, and the goals of the business’s clients, that we can help drive the amazing things that are happening at Litera.
What are Litera’s long-term goals for growth globally, and how do you support that growth?
We are a fast-growing organization, both organically and inorganically. We have a global and diverse organization and are continuing to develop and acquire new, cutting-edge software products to improve the lives of the clients we serve. Our focus each and every day is to greet challenges willingly and use our superpowers to continue to push the practice of law forward with our solutions.
“Our focus each and every day is to greet challenges willingly and use our superpowers to continue to push the practice of law forward with our solutions.”
What are some ways the Litera team ‘lives’ the mission and vision?
We are a uniquely positioned technology company that provides innovative solutions for our customers and our Literans.
Technology is continually pushing forward, and at a faster pace than ever before. A shining example of that is AI. One of our cornerstone products, Kira, is one of the first AI solutions to hit the market, delivered more than 12 years ago. Litera is continuing our innovation, with a focus on making the most of new, cutting-edge technological developments, such as Generative AI. In order to continue to serve our clients as a market leader, we continually innovate — and we only do that by, with and through Literans. We hire great people, give them challenging and meaningful work, stretch opportunities and development to enable them to use and grow their diverse skill sets and opinions.
WHAT DOES BEING A LITERAN MEAN?
- Developing innovative solutions: We do complex and meaningful work
- Creating meaningful connections: The Literans we work with are the difference
- Accelerating your career: We offer opportunities for personal development
- Diversity and equity is at our core: The diversity of our talent is our advantage
- We are nimble and ready to adapt: We are a forward-thinking organization
How do you help your team grow their careers?
As a fast-growing technology organization, we encourage our teams to tackle new challenges, work with new technology, take chances and fail fast. In order to do so, we offer robust learning and development opportunities and work with our Literans on their individual development goals and provide stretch assignments.
How do you build team culture? Why is that important for the work that you do?
Culture is the differentiator for every high-performing organization and ours is no different. From the moment we speak to a prospective Literan, we focus on cultural fit. Enabling the legal profession to focus on their life’s mission is our ‘why,’ and we encourage each and every Literan to gain a deep connection to that ‘why’ and how their role contributes to that. Our leadership team is committed to actively seeking and responding to feedback to continuously improve, and we encourage Literans to share their thoughts and have psychological safety in doing so. Having a cohesive leadership team and ensuring everyone understands and is working towards our shared vision provides the bedrock of a solid culture for us to build upon — and our Literans continue to #greetchallengeswillingly and #proveitspossible.
