Designing the Future of Legal Work
Practical education. Thoughtful collaboration. Better ways of working.
The Idea Collective brings together Kelli Radnothy and Kristine Custodio Suero to help legal professionals and organizations turn emerging ideas into practical improvements. Through published work, professional education, speaking, and industry collaborations, we explore how people, technology, and well-designed systems can strengthen legal practice.
Our work starts with the people doing the work: what they need to know, where their experience can lead, and what helps them contribute at their full capacity.
Meet Kelli and Kristine
Kelli Radnothy | Co-founder
Kelli is a litigation paralegal, legal educator, speaker, and legal-operations consultant with more than 20 years of experience across private practice and public service. Her work connects legal technology, practice readiness, workflow design, and sustainable performance. She helps legal teams build systems that support excellent work without normalizing exhaustion.
Kristine Custodio Suero, ACP | Co-founder
Kristine is an award-winning legal professional, educator, author, and speaker whose work connects professional development, leadership, and the changing legal workforce. She brings experience in paralegal practice, business development, and professional association leadership, along with contributions as a PLI faculty member and PLI Chronicle author.
Together, we bring a practitioner’s understanding of legal work and an educator’s commitment to making ideas useful. Our shared focus is helping legal professionals recognize their expertise, strengthen their judgment, and participate in shaping the profession.
Our Work
Published perspectives | PLI Chronicle
Our contributions to the Practising Law Institute’s PLI Chronicle explore the changing legal workforce, professional development, and new approaches to delivering legal services.
The Future-Ready Legal Workforce: Preparing the Legal Workforce for the Post-Quantum Era
Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy • October 2026
A contribution to the conversation about preparing the legal workforce for emerging technology and the demands ahead.
From Policy to Practice: Implementing the ACUS Nonlawyer Representation Report Across Feder…
Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy • March 2026
An examination of nonlawyer representation and the practical questions involved in translating policy into legal-service delivery.
Education and resources | InfoTrack
Paralegal Power Hour: Paralegal Pathways
Our educational collaboration with InfoTrack connects career development with the practical realities of legal work. The series brings together conversations and resources on professional pathways, technology, and operational excellence.
The State of the Paralegal Profession
Co-authored by Kristine and Kelli, this white paper examines expanding paralegal roles, innovation, and access to justice. It sits alongside the Paralegal Pathways companion guide as part of our growing resource collection.
Conversations and community | AAfPE
Legal Luminaries: The Paralegal Edition
Co-hosted by Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy, AAfPE’s video podcast brings educators and legal professionals into conversation about paralegal education, professional pathways, and the future of legal work. Explore the interviews and perspectives shaping how we prepare, support, and develop the legal workforce.
Our Next Chapter
We are building a body of work that connects professional education, thoughtful technology use, and the development of the legal workforce. Our vision is to make these conversations easier to put into practice through articles, learning resources, training, and collaboration with organizations serving the profession.
As InfoTrack affiliate partners, we see opportunities to connect that education with practical tools and conversations about how legal work gets done. Our focus is on helping professionals ask better questions about technology: where it fits, what problem it addresses, and what people need to use it responsibly.
Bring the Conversation to Your Organization
We develop presentations, workshops, and training for professional associations, educational institutions, law firms, legal departments, and conferences. Programs can be shaped around your audience, priorities, and available time, with Kelli, Kristine, or both presenting.
Our areas of focus include:
- AI, ethics, and professional judgment: Connecting technology use with verification, accountability, and appropriate oversight.
- Legal operations and workflow design: Reducing recurring friction and creating clearer, more reliable ways to work.
- Paralegal leadership and career pathways: Recognizing transferable expertise and preparing for expanding professional opportunities.
- Practice readiness and workforce development: Developing the judgment, communication, and systems thinking that effective legal work requires.
- Sustainable legal practice: Examining how workload, leadership, processes, and culture affect both people and performance.
Tell us about your audience and what you want them to take away. We will help shape a program that connects the larger conversation to their everyday work.