Acme Labs

AmLaw 100 firm · Strategy, operating model, org design

A complete operating model for an innovation lab inside an AmLaw 100 firm, including a playbook for sourcing and piloting new ideas, a balanced innovation portfolio strategy, and a staffing model where lawyers work alongside technology and design experts.

The client

A large AmLaw 100 law firm, in collaboration with a senior partner and a senior knowledge management leader at the firm. As part of the engagement, we also worked closely with firm and practice group leadership.

What we did

We won the work and led the engagement end to end. We ran an extensive design research sprint with partners, associates, and firm leadership, then designed the lab's complete operating model: a four-phase stage-gated process (source, sprint, design, co-pilot), a portfolio strategy balancing incremental and disruptive bets, and a staffing model pairing technical subject matter experts with lawyers seconded in from the firm's practice groups.

Acme Labs' operating model: a four-phase, stage-gated pipeline (Source, Sprint, Design, Co-Pilot) with ideas narrowing as they gain fidelity, and a stage gate between each phase.
The operating model: a four-phase, stage-gated pipeline that moves an idea from Source to a live Co-Pilot.1 / 4
Outcome

A full operating-model blueprint delivered to firm leadership. Two of the lab's core design principles are particularly relevant in 2026. The sourcing mechanism used lawyers' existing client relationships and day-to-day work as the input to the innovation funnel, rather than parachuting outsiders into the firm. The staffing model paired technical experts with seconded lawyers as equal contributors. This is essentially the legal-engineer hiring pattern AmLaw firms are now building into AI-native practice.