Women In Technology Campaign - Ellen Sessoms

Ellen manages relationships with several global strategic accounts, seeking opportunities to maximize efficiency and minimize risk through intentional adoption of technologies, services, and workflows.  She partners with our client’s legal, procurement and legal operations departments to ensure legal, operational, and budgetary goals are scoped and achieved.

She has experience managing the eDiscovery operations of both large and small corporations, which helps her assess and solve our client’s challenges. Ellen specializes in fostering relationships with both our corporate and law firm partners to achieve cost-effective, defensible, and consistent results.

Prior to joining the Strategic Client Solutions team, Ellen served as a project manager and operational account manager within Consilio, overseeing the day-to-day team management and workflow operations, while developing and implementing account-level initiatives.

Ellen is licensed to practice law in the state of North Carolina and has extensive hands-on technical experience administering a variety of review, analytics, archiving and case management platforms, as well as numerous collaboration tools including Microsoft 365.

How did you get into this industry?

Like any good political science major, I decided to go to law school. During my time in law school, my now-husband who was an eDiscovery data processor at the time, suggested that I take an Intro to eDiscovery course during my third year. I had enjoyed my previous evidence courses, so it was no surprise that I also enjoyed eDiscovery, the obvious academic evolution. I’ve always been a tech-minded individual and an industry that combined law and technology, seemed like a natural fit. After passing the bar, I applied to be a document reviewer and was hired as a project manager instead and I’ve served in various roles in the industry since.

What were some of the pivotal moments in your career that helped you get to where you are today?

Pivotal moments are funny – sometimes you reach a decision point and you know it’s a big one – like career-impacting, forever. And other times you don’t know they were pivotal until much later when you’re looking back. In either case, coping with the change head-on – whether wanted or unwanted – is what ultimately makes all the difference. Say “yes” – accept the challenge and then find ways to thrive amidst any adversity that comes along. As long as you approach whatever that pivotal moment is with your true self, then you can be proud of whatever the outcome is.

Have you ever noticed a time in your career where your gender proved to differentiate you?

Over the years, I’ve certainly found myself in quite a few meetings where I’m the only woman in the room.  Did my gender differentiate me? Yes, but only as much as I wanted it to. We all bring unique experiences and perspectives with us. In certain situations, being a woman gives me a unique perspective, in others, having technological experience gives me a unique experience, sometimes it’s being an attorney, etc, etc. Don’t let yourself be discounted or underestimated because of those experiences, but rather embrace them as opportunities to participate and thrive.

What is your advice for someone working in a predominately male workplace?

Own your role in every situation, whatever it may be.  Sometimes you may be present to listen – if that is the case, listen and learn with intention. If you are speaking, speaking confidently; your opinion and experience matter. If you are leading, do so boldly; other women (and men) are watching and learning from you. If you are underestimated, prove them wrong. Throughout your career, you’ll have tons of different roles, regardless of how diverse your workplace is.  In all of them, show up and do your best. Others will notice – and hopefully follow suit.

What do you think companies could do to motivate more women to pursue careers in technology?

Spotlighting women, whether it’s through pieces like this one or by other means, is a great way to demonstrate a company/industry’s values.  Legal technology is constantly evolving, which makes it an exciting industry to be a part of. If companies continue to show that women are welcome, elevated and encouraged, more and more women (and hopefully men) will want to be a part of that.