Ryan Clymer

We're hiring for FDDs 🐕 . If you've got the bark AND the bite, we want to hear from you. The work is interesting, complex, and mission-critical. Those who thrive share something we call the "canine" mentality. Always hungry, loyal to the cause, never afraid to jump in the mud. And of course, if you're cute and have four legs, there are treats involved. Jokes aside, our team at Sandstone is sniffing for talented, motivated, technical FDEs to join our mission of building and deploying next-gen AI workflows into legal departments globally. Consider joining us here: https://lnkd.in/ewwHa2uJ CC Alex Meyer

20 years ago, I graduated from law school thinking I was going to spend my career buried in contracts because I wasn’t a moot court rock star. Honestly, I was OK with that because public speaking terrified me as an island gal with a tendency to speak too fast. Who knew back in 2006 that public speaking and building community through sharing content via social, podcasts, speaking engagements would be a core part of my job? I didn’t. Yet here we are 20 years later. Here's what two decades in law taught me: ⭐️ Your reputation is your most valuable professional asset - Law school pits you against your classmates with grading curves. The real world is the opposite. The attorney you steamroll today could be a future client or colleague. The legal community is small and it has a long memory. Advocacy doesn't require being a jerk. Play the long game. Some of my best relationships have been with folks who sat across the negotiating table with me (who became early clients of Lexion) and folks who worked at competing companies (Mary O'Carroll was at Ironclad while I was at Lexion and is on the board of Paragon Legal (where I’m an advisor) and is an advisor to Sandstone (where I’m the CLO). ⭐️ Networking is just making friends - Be genuinely curious about others and how you can help them. Some of my most meaningful professional relationships were built off of no agenda. Opportunities came later. My first GC gig was a referral from a startup CEO who I met at a wedding 10 years before that role opened up. My strategic advisory role at Paragon came about after discussing growth strategy with Jessica Markowitz and being connected on LinkedIn for years. My role at Sandstone was a referral from a former sales lead for a product that competed with Lexion but we always knew we wanted to work together someday (and that someday came - hey Oliver Pour). 20 years later, the lesson is simple: Relationships are what matter. Not the law school I attended. Not firm prestige. Every opportunity I've had — every pivot, every referral, every leap — traces back to a person who showed up for me because I showed up for them (or they were kind enough to lift me selflessly even when I had nothing to give to them). Showing up sometimes means just being kind. For my legal peers out there, what lessons would you share to legal professionals early in their career?  Drop them in a comment. ⬇️ Here's to 20 years and to the community that made them count. 🥂 📷 Pic of me at law school graduation carrying my now 25-year old nephew (who I can no longer carry).

🎙️ Exciting announcement! I’m podcasting again! The legal industry is changing and the leaders who will define the next decade aren't waiting around for permission to evolve. That's why I created "Evolving," a podcast for in-house legal professionals who are thinking about the evolution of the legal role, tech, and profession. In the show, I sit down with leaders who are actively thinking about what the future of law will look like. No polished PR answers. Just real conversations -- you know Jessica style (ugh, did I really make a third person reference?). Yes. Yes, I did. Whether you're a GC, in-house counsel, or legal ops professional, this show is for you if you're excited about where our profession is headed. Check out the podcast trailer on the page linked in a comment. * Spoiler alert: in the trailer, you'll hear some familiar voices of leaders in our industry, including legal ops legend Mary O'Carroll and my bestie Eric Dodson Greenberg. Episodes premiere July 8th and drop every other week. I'd love for you to subscribe and follow along wherever you listen to podcasts — Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, and more. Who in your network is forward-thinking and would be great on the show? I'd love to hear from you and get your recommendations. Self nominations are welcome. No judgment here. ⬇️ Thank you Sandstone, legal relationship management, for bringing this amazing resource to life. And a special thanks to the hard work of our Sandstone marketing team Molly Freudenberg and Maggie Pote for helping me put this all together! Dream team. #evolvingpod #legalinnovation #leadership #generalcounsel

Over 250 people wanted to attend a #NYTechWeek event I hosted alongside Sally Wong at Vinson & Elkins on Monday night! The audience represented the entire legaltech market including, BigLaw, in-house counsel, legal AI vendors, founders, AI-native law firms, recruiters, and investors. It signals how explosive the legal AI landscape is: —> Legaltech raised $6B in venture capital last year. —> K&E is investing half a billion in building its own proprietary legal AI platform. —> Legal professionals are the top users of Claude Cowork. —> OpenAI just hired Ironclad’s founder to build out their legal product —> New AI-native law firms are popping up every day. Legal AI has created a new talent market, new internal functions, and new service models to deliver legal work. Our panelists Justin Cooper, Avi Brudner, Dan Ton-That, and Emilie McConnachie shared their own pivots, what they’re building, and honest takes on what it means to be a lawyer navigating this space right now. My main takeaway for the room was to figure out the role you want to play, leverage your background, and become deeply proficient / comfortable with AI. Thank you to Sandstone and Crux, and to Vinson & Elkins for hosting us in their beautiful office! The room was electric and we can’t wait to do it again soon.

Wrapped up another Sales Kickoff with the Ironclad team this week! It’s always energizing to step back, reflect on the year behind us, and align on what we’re building together next. I feel so grateful to work alongside an incredibly thoughtful, sharp, and supportive group of teammates who genuinely care about each other. I’m also very proud to have earned a spot at President’s Club this year! A big thank you to my teammates, leaders, and the customers who trusted us to support such important parts of their businesses. None of it happens alone. Feeling proud of what we built last year and excited for what’s ahead in 2026!

Before I share what's next for me I wanted to extended my sincerest gratitude to the customers, colleagues and partners that made this such an amazing 5 years at Ironclad. While there are countless people that have made this special, I wanted to call out those that had made the biggest impact on my time there. I’m going to start with my onboarding mentor Edward Achziger that went above and beyond to make this a great first impression. Ed I am so thrilled to see you thriving in a leadership role. Next, the many GTM & revenue leaders I worked with along the way that have helped in countless ways: Brooke Adair Dallas Stonhaus Dean Cormier Greg Oberfelder Jeremy Smith Josh Eich Justin Darby Leslie Henthorn Mike Slattery & Toby Laforest. Lastly, to the amazing solution engineers and leaders that are the unsung heroes of so much of what we accomplished as a team. Caitlin Chenier Desanka Aleksov Heran M. Jesse S. Ryan Clymer Tyler Andersen. I can’t thank you enough for all you have done! I will be back on linkedin to share what is next for me but to everyone in my Ironclad family I'm wishing you all the best.