Spotlights: Tearing up the legal rulebook with Tom Fleuriot

In the latest instalment of our Legal Disruptors series, we spotlight Tom Fleuriot, legal professional, founder of legal ops consultancy Flocsam, and a sharp, savvy legal mind who’s not afraid to tear up the rulebook.

From an unassuming start in the legal world, Tom has shown how the traditional legal path isn’t always the path most trodden. He has shown that to be impactful in a legal career, it demands being bold, tactical and challenging common thinking.

Read on and learn how you, like Tom, can tear up the legal rulebook and take a more tactical, considered approach.
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Tom’s unassuming legal path

Not all legal journeys begin in a courtroom or even with a typical law degree.

After university and various temp roles, Tom joined Babcock International Group in a commercial role, alongside but not inside the legal world. He worked on contract drafting, negotiation, bid writing, legal compliance, supplier diligence and contract management. The company later funded a part-time postgraduate law diploma, marking the true start of his legal career.

For his training contract, he was seconded to top-tier law firms where he gained extensive experience.

“I did my training, and it was amazing being a trainee in these really intense high quality law firms without the fear of not getting a job at the end of it because I was going back to Babcock, so I could really lean into the learning and away from the politics or pressure.”

Following his tenure at Babcock, Tom joined Reckitt Benckiser and moved up the legal ranks over 9 years. During this time, he grew several legal teams, developed business strategies, supported procurement, sales, e-commerce, marketing and R&D, and helped shape a strong, credible image of what an impactful legal role should look like.

After 9 years, it was time for a change.

“One of the reasons I was excited about moving on was that I saw successes in things I brought to the table, that I'd not seen other lawyers do. So, I wanted to bring my successes and thinking to a wider audience. I wanted to get other lawyers thinking, “how can you have maximum impact?’”

This was the thinking that created Flocsam - a legal consultancy focused on helping legal teams cut through complexity and deliver tactical impact fast.
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Lawyers need to think more tactically, not strategically

Tom is all about tactical execution, a mindset which is evident in what Flocsam helps lawyers achieve.

Many in-house teams get caught up in lengthy strategies with year-long roadmaps and transformation goals that are often outdated by the time they are implemented.

“Get rid of your roadmap and just get in the car and drive.”

For Tom, the secret lies in tactical focus. He believes lawyers need to stop thinking so big for their function and instead identify a sharp, narrow business problem that delivers the key business strategic goals. Solve that problem quickly and collaboratively. Just one small change can make a big difference and help legal teams set their business on a path and a mindset of change, without getting lost in the planning.

Over Flocsam’s two day sprints, a tight group of cross-functional stakeholders work on their operational pain points, targeting where they can create immediate value. Depending on the organization and the goal, this involves a focus on three areas:

1. What outcome are you trying to achieve, what are the real risks, and what will you do about them?
2. What solution will bring the best value for money, looking at the true lifecycle costs of the people, process and technology?
3. How do you stay focused on executing and driving that change?

“We take a step back so that we can take a really fast, hard and intensive look at a clear area where the company is experiencing legal pain. We help the room think, what do we stop doing, what do we do differently? What can be great is that the range of perspectives in the room can be a real lightbulb where teams stop some of the errors we’ve been making for years, sometime errors we make as a profession.”

This tactical approach has a strategic impact. It not only brings change to the business, but also helps legal professionals become more agile, more disruptive and more impactful over the short and long term.
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Technology isn’t the answer for lawyers, it’s the enabler

When asked how can technology help lawyers break free from old patterns to create the headspace to think more tactically, Tom offers a refreshingly honest opinion,

“When looking to adopt and use technology it needs to start with, ‘what are we trying to do,’. I say this because I think all lawyers should understand technology and how data flows, but you can fall into the trap of overestimating technology and whether it actually gives you any headspace in the long term.”

Tom acknowledges that while technology has potential, it's not the silver bullet. Many legal professionals feel pressure to adopt new technology and AI tools out of fear of being left behind. While embracing technology is important, lawyers must first understand the problem they’re addressing, and the challenge that technology is meant to serve. Don’t adopt it for the sake of being seen to do so, and don’t forget to be realistic at what it costs to adopt.

And the advice to teams drowning in technology, dashboards and data? “Combine data with gut.” Use technology to support and to leverage useful insights but combine the insights with the human judgment that defines good lawyering, “let's not forget what makes us lawyers.”
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Tom’s lasting words: Go narrow, go deep, go fast

As legal departments face many challenges, it can be difficult to know how to positively evolve your role. So start by simplifying, focusing and then acting.

“Don’t underestimate how difficult it is to do simple things well. Go narrow, go deep, go hard, deliver a proof of concept and do it fast.”

Tom encourages legal professionals to also stay grounded in their responsibilities, boldly question outdated norms, but don’t always get caught up in building a team-specific bigger picture, “your legal team’s mission is to deliver the business strategy while upholding your professional duties. It’s that simple.”

In a profession still catching up with the pace of change, Tom’s journey proves that disruption doesn’t always mean chaos. It means clarity, focus, tactics, thinking with your gut, and even making one small change quickly can help supercharge your business and set a precedent for positive change.

If you’re interested in learning more about Tom, his story and insights, follow him on LinkedIn. If you would like to get your team thinking tactically over a two-day workshop, ‘Ring the bell’ with Flocsam.

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