Michael R. Caplan

NEWS & INSIGHTS

• November 7, 2024 In the Media
  

  In Alexander Group’s Five Questions With Extraordinary Leaders, Lowenstein Chief Operating Officer Michael R. Caplan discusses his leadership style, how the business of law is evolving, and the firm’s strategic plan for future growth. Caplan says: “Recently, we’ve been focused on a strategic plan that leverages the business of law to serve our clients, our colleagues, and our communities. We are looking at lateral partner hiring, innovative technology and solutions, data and business intelligence, cross-selling, conflicts…and we are looking at these elements in new ways. This approach will enable the firm to grow, be competitive, and STAY competitive—not only in our tier-one practices but across all of our different groups from a cross-selling, collaborative perspective."
  
  Caplan’s advice to future COOs is to “get to know people, build relationships, learn the firm, go on a listening tour, get on airplanes, go to different offices, make sure you work out a lot because you’re going to have a lot of meals and a lot of coffee, but listen and learn. If you really truly want to be successful at the job of the COO, you have to build trust with your partners. And then you also have to build trust with your team under you, so that they will embrace you as the COO and keep you in the loop.” He adds: “The other piece of advice I would give is you’ve got to understand the financials…If you don’t understand the numbers of a law firm, it’s very hard to be a COO.”

• October 16, 2024 Events & Speaking Engagements
  Fifth Annual Outside Counsel Guidelines Roundtable, Sandpiper Partners, New York, NY
• October 1, 2024 Events & Speaking Engagements
  Navigating AI in the Practice of Law, Bloomberg Law, New York, NY
• September 24, 2024 In the Media
  

  Lowenstein Chief Operating Officer Michael R. Caplan is featured in Bloomberg Law’s article on the increasingly client-facing role of COOs at law firms. Caplan says, “I am a business-oriented COO, and I have a client perspective,” adding that he spends approximately 30 percent of his time “on client-facing initiatives, like strategic pricing and cross-selling services of other practices.”

• September 4, 2024 Events & Speaking Engagements
  Starting, Building & Managing a Legal Ops Function for Success: The GC’s Perspective, LegalOps.com, Las Vegas, NV
• September 4, 2024 Events & Speaking Engagements
  Transforming Your Legal Supply Chain into a Competitive Advantage, LegalOps.com, Las Vegas, NV
• September 4, 2024 Firm News
  "Lowenstein Receives High Ranking in The American Lawyer’s 2024 Midlevel Associates Tech Survey"
  Michael R. Caplan , Jared Kaplan
• July 23, 2024 Firm News
  "NJBIZ Ranks Lowenstein’s Christopher Porrino, Michael Caplan, and Elie Honig on its 2024 Law Power 50 List"
  Christopher Porrino , Elie Honig , Michael R. Caplan
• July 8, 2024 In the Media
  

  Bloomberg Law interviews Lowenstein Chair and Managing Partner Gary M. Wingens and Chief Operating Officer Michael R. Caplan about the firm’s strategic plan for substantial growth in both headcount and AI-enhanced productivity over the next few years. Wingens believes that innovative use of AI will eventually “allow firms to do more work with fewer lawyers. A 500-lawyer firm by the end of the decade could have the productive capacity of a firm that’s three or four times larger today."
  
  Caplan tells Bloomberg that the management team, including new Chief Innovation & Information Officer Jared Kaplan and Chief Administrative Officer Mauren Naughton, aims to maintain “a culture that people really believe in and buy into, not only about the firm, but about how it’s led, how it’s managed, what sectors and businesses are a key focus, how we’re attracting talent. That requires firm leaders to clearly communicate growth and other goals to lawyers and staff.”

• July 8, 2024 In the Media
  

  Law360 reports on the addition of two new members to Lowenstein Sandler’s senior management team: Maureen Naughton, Chief Administrative Officer, and Jared Kaplan, Chief Innovation & Information Officer, whom firm Chief Operating Officer Michael R. Caplan says will play an integral part of role in the firm's expansion plans. Naughton, who previously worked with Caplan at another law firm, says "I'm very excited to work with Mike again and to welcome Jared. It's a … time filled with growth and new ideas and innovation." Kaplan adds that he is “focused on assessing the firm's technology suite for potential improvements to usability, reliability and security.” ROI-NJ, Law.com, and New Jersey Business Magazine also announced the new hires. 

• April 16, 2024 Firm News
  "Lowenstein Sandler Launches Custom GPT Chatbot"
  Mark P. Kesslen , Michael R. Caplan
• April 16-19, 2024 In the Media
  

  Law360 reports on the launch of Lowenstein AI, a chatbot to help external users navigate the firm's website. Mark P. Kesslen, Chair of Lowenstein's Intellectual Property group, says: “Our firm's decades-long focus on the technology sector gives us unparalleled experience in guiding clients through uncharted regulatory landscapes in disruptive industries like crypto, fintech and now AI. Our new chatbot illustrates that at our firm, we practice what we preach: we not only advise companies on leveraging cutting edge technology to their advantage, but we strategically employ that technology ourselves." Kevin Iredell, Lowenstein Sandler's Chief Marketing Officer, adds: “We are thrilled to be leading the charge as one of the first major law firms in the country to implement generative AI to help clients and other website users efficiently find the targeted  answers they seek or the specific lawyers they want to contact.” 

  Law.com also quotes Lowenstein's Chief Operating Officer Michael Caplan, who says: "We understand our clients’ objectives and challenges regarding AI technology because we are immersed in it ourselves; therefore, we are ideally suited to counsel companies who want to harness the potential of this groundbreaking technology."