When it comes to big names in legal operations and legal innovation, it is hard to think of one bigger than David Cambria, who has long been described as the godfather of legal operations, including for his trailblazing work as COO and head of global operations for Fortune 50 company Archer Daniels Midland and then as chief services officer and innovation cochair at global law firm Baker McKenzie, where he is credited with reshaping the firm’s operational model.
Now, Cambria has joined Epiq, a global provider of technology-enabled legal services, as managing director leading Epiq’s Legal Business Advisory Practice, where he will focus on helping organizations improve their legal operations and service delivery.
“The experts at Epiq and the knowledge that we have under one roof is unprecedented,” Cambria said in a press statement. “We have experience in navigating the marketplace, are solution-oriented, and move fast to engineer new operational structures and solutions to support today’s highly efficient legal departments.”
At Baker McKenzie from 2018 to 2021, Cambria spearheaded initiatives to reshape the firm’s business lines and client services, including practice management, pricing strategy, project management, alternative legal services, and service design.
Earlier, at ADM from 2013 to 2018, he developed the company’s legal operations policies and functions from scratch, winning multiple awards, including the 2018 Best Legal Department award from Corporate Counsel and the 2017 Transatlantic Legal Department of the Year from The American Lawyer and Legal Week.
Most recently, Cambria was strategic operations advisor at 273 Ventures. From 2021 to 2023, he was managing director of legal business solutions and innovation at PwC.
Cambria was among the cofounders of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) and he helped establish the legal operations division within the Association of Corporate Counsel.
