Monica Zent Email & Phone Number

Shaping innovation, opportunity and policy in the legal realm with industry leaders and luminaries at the intersection of law, tech, compliance and venture.

Sunnyvale, Ca, Us

ZentLaw brings innovative on-demand legal solutions to in-house legal departments and law firms nationwide. Upon its launch in 2002, ZentLaw broke the mold for legal services delivery as one of the earliest alternative legal services providers (ALSPs) that pioneered the concept of offering tech-enabled solutions, on-demand legal resources, flexible legal talent and legal services on a subscription basis to enterprise clients across the United States. As the original "On Demand" legal services provider, ZentLaw has cultivated a 21 year proven track record as the go-to solution for legal work and legal resources for the world's leading brands.Our innovative Solutions allow us to "right size" what works best for our clients while delivering value and savings in the process. We seamlessly integrate with our clients' cultures, operating as an extension of their in-house teams. ZentLaw is proud to be a woman-founded and woman-led organization with diversity, equity and inclusion as a core component of our culture. At ZentLaw, our people-first culture is service oriented, client-focused and a place where our team members can truly grow.ZentLaw is an award-winning legal services provider that has been covered nationally in publications such as the ABA Journal, Corporate Counsel, National Law Review, the Daily Journal, ACC Docket and more. As Founder, I have adopted the servant-leader mindset, built the organization from the ground up, defining the vision and executing on all aspects of the business with the assistance of a skilled team. My role has included establishing the services philosophy and company culture, building all client relationships, building the team, overseeing all management, strategy, business development, marketing, PR, client service, employee relations, finance and business operations, and serving as the public face of the brand.

Santa Clara, Ca, Us

Advisor to the SCU Bronco Venture Accelerator across areas pertaining to business, startups, funding, outreach to underserved founders and the venture community.

New York, Ny, Us

Early member of the premier network for women in executive leadership roles.

San Mateo, Ca, Us

Investing in women-led businesses in SaaS, tech, digital media.

New York, Us

Silicon Valley moderator for Above the Law’s Innovation Center, co-leading programs and events for the in-house, legal operations and LegalTech communities. As a Contributor, I write the "Innovative Thinkers" series as well as pieces about legal technology, legal innovation, legal operations, and modern legal practice that run on Above the Law's Innovation Center publication.

New York, Ny, Us

I serve as a founding Advisory Board member to Breaking Media's Above the Law/Evolve the Law property focused on the Corporate Legal Department offering and summit.

New York, Ny, Us

Advisory board member of High Performance Counsel, a leading digital content publisher and platform for the legal industry. https://highperformancecounsel.com/project/monica-zent/

New York, Us

I write articles for various ALM publications such as Corporate Counsel Magazine, on topics related to legal technology, alternative legal industry business models, innovative approaches to the practice of law, women in the legal industry and social media for lawyers.

Chicago, Il, Us

I write articles regarding legal technology, the evolution of the legal industry, social media for lawyers, and best practices for in-house counsel.

New York City, Ny, Us

I write articles on topics such as innovation in the legal industry and law practice generally, the plight of women in technology and women in business, guidance for startup company founders and executive teams, and keys to balance and healthy living for entrepreneurs.

Real estate development and investment company, including sourcing, development and management of multi-family and commercial real property assets.

Palo Alto, Ca, Us

LawDesk360 is a SaaS-based, secure, AI-powered workflow efficiency solution for today’s legal departments and law firms, developed in ZentLaw Labs. As Founder, I conceived of and collaborated with our engineering leadership and team to build the product and the brand, initiating our go-to-market strategy, establishing key partnerships and addressing product management. In this role, I led business operations, strategy, communications and business development functions. The product has been deployed within some of the largest corporate legal departments. Product was very close to acquisition by two major SaaS players and at term sheet stage with one before the acquirer itself was acquired by a private equity firm. Learned that building and selling an enterprise SaaS solution to customers as a founder while running another company and other investment activity, plus thought leadership and everything else on my plate is *a lot.* But learned that I can build good, easy-to-use, secure LegalTech products and identify relevant opportunities for LegalTech solutions to solve real-world client problems.

ZentLaw Labs was one of the earliest LegalTech incubation and innovation hubs within a legal services organization. In ZentLaw Labs we create, incubate and experiment with new and emerging Legal Technology offerings for the legal industry and the clients served by ZentLaw. We have developed patented technology used in the legal industry and continue to push the boundaries of innovation in our sector. We have created automated intakes, AI-powered chatbots, agile playbooks for clients' contracting systems and more. Some have worked well and some haven't. It's all part of the process. As Founder, I have led the creation of ZentLaw Labs and personally architected some of the earliest projects developed and incubated in ZentLaw Labs, including LegalTech solutions that bring artificial intelligence (AI) to the creation, performance and delivery of legal work and legal services. Learned that I still love being involved in the tech product development and experimentation realm from conception through launch (but not as directly anymore). Also learned that as much as clients like to see these offerings and try them out, paying for them is another issue.

New York, New York, Us

I write the "Execs on the Go" Column, contributing pieces that inspire and help business leaders, executives and entrepreneurs.

New York, Ny, Us

I contribute pieces on productivity, wellness, optimism and leadership strategies for entrepreneurs and female business owners.

San Francisco, California, Us

I write articles regarding women in technology, women in business, women in venture capital, startup strategies and the journey of startup founders and founding teams.

Arlington, Virginia, Us

I write articles regarding major shifts in the legal industry, legal technologies involving collaboration, machine learning and artificial intelligence, legal operations and the evolution of the legal industry along with the practice of law.

Irvine, Ca, Us

I write articles regarding startup life, practical wisdom for business owners, advocacy for women in business and women in technology, and practical tips for how to leverage social media and other technology in marketing and business operations.

Foxwordy is the collaboration and social networking destination for individual lawyers and legal professionals. www.foxwordy.comThe legal industry is being transformed by increased connectivity and an emphasis on efficiency. Foxwordy is the vital digital collaboration network for individual legal professionals need to meet the industry’s evolving standards. Foxwordy’s secure and easy-to-use, cloud-based social network solution allows lawyers to instantly connect with their credible legal colleagues to share knowledge, exchange referrals and access opportunities. Our machine learning-enabled search and artificial intelligence technology in Foxwordy drives greater relevance, giving lawyers what they need, when they need it. Foxwordy offers a breakthrough for the legal market by allowing legal professionals around the world to collaborate in a private setting, outside of mainstream networks or publicly accessible sites.Foxwordy has been covered nationwide and regionally in publications such as Forbes, BusinessWeek, Corporate Counsel, San Francisco Chronicle, ABA Journal, California Lawyer Magazine, FindLaw, LegalTech News, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Stanford CodeX.Foxwordy has been recognized as a leading new technology to watch by Thomson Reuters at their West Coast Forum in 2015. Foxwordy was also adopted by the National Bar Association.As Founder, was responsible for building the company from the ground up, from building the functional specifications for the product to building a team and a brand. Direct involvement in product development, project management, refining the product roadmap, launching new features, user acquisition, branding, patents, and establishing partnerships and key initiatives for the company. Amassed just over 100,000 users and six key partnerships. Learned I should have failed faster on this one. Ultimately, not enough major traction. Great product. Too early for the market at the time.

Mountain View, Ca, Us

My investment activities involved legaltech, digital media, enterprise and B2B SaaS businesses. Provided entrepreneurial and general business advice and guidance to founding teams of portfolio companies and fellow members of the investment group. Investor in companies such as: Spinnakr, 500 Startups, PicCollage, Junar, Silver Bullet Therapeautics, Clean Power Finance, and more. Learned that more women needed to be involved in angel investing so I set about recruiting more. I also learned how to listen to and vet founder submissions, founder pitches and conduct due diligence while working on a team with fellow investors.

Wrote and delivered the weekly "Legal Minute" on popular San Francisco Bay Area radio news station, 1590 KLIV as a public service to the community. Fun being in the studio with the legendary late Bob Kieve. (The news program and the Station 1590 was later sold.)

Handled intellectual property law and licensing, technology law and licensing, Internet law, digital media, music law, entertainment law, open source software licensing and privacy law and compliance for enterprise and venture-backed startup clients of this global law firm. Was responsible for extensive drafting and negotiation on a wide range of commercial, licensing, digital media, entertainment and internet-based transactions. Provided legal advice and counseling to clients in these areas. Representative clients included Xerox Parc, Palm and REI.Learned that conventional law firms are woefully inefficient with financial interests inherently pitted against the clients' need for value. This inspired me to create a legal industry business model that addressed that gap and opportunity in the market.

Founded this company and built the product on my own as a side hustle. Assembled an expansive music database of licensed materials and detailed metrics on clip licensing data for the entertainment industry, including music publishing data and performing rights royalty data and splits per song. Built this product on a database program in which all data was stored, tagged, related and searchable. The company, including its database and the metric data were acquired. This was my second exit and enabled me to purchase my first piece of real estate. Learned that my relationships in the industry are what led to this favorable outcome and that relationships are gold. Also learned that I really enjoy creating startups that use tech to solve problems.

Served as Legal Director responsible for all licensing and transactions for the company's original television productions, including music law and licensing. Provided legal advice and counseling as to the company's domestic and foreign music publishing interests, as well as the company's in-bound and out-bound licensing activities involving original content. Negotiated and drafted strategic rights acquisitions for live theatrical productions based on the company's properties. Provided strategic legal and business rights acquisition oversight for original film productions. Advised and counseled company executives on the legal issues pertaining to out-bound licensing best practices and business strategy.

Co-founded a music publishing company that produced compilation albums with recordings performed by rock/pop music industry talent, benefiting charitable causes such as the Starlight Children's Foundation. We produced a number of records. Had fun learning a lot about the music production business (and that artists can sometimes flake on their commitments). Ultimately learned no one cared as much about celebrity compilation albums for charity as we did.

Was responsible for rights and licensing, drafting and negotiation for in-bound and out-bound content, including music. Handled all legal work associated with music licensing and music publishing matters for the company and its film, television, merchandising and other properties. Provided advice and briefings to executive team members regarding rights acquisitions and dispositions as to content assets. Handled merchandising matters as it pertained to the company's domestic merchandising interests of its original properties.

Was responsible for all in-bound content and music licensing for the company's original productions. Had oversight as to all out-bound clip and music licensing for the company's original productions and assets, including the company's archives of classic productions. To drive efficiencies within the legal department, I designed and built a database in filemaker pro to catalog, track and manage all of the company's licensed assets in all of its original productions and produce reports to analyze patterns in usage and spending, none of which existed prior to that point. MTM was eventually sold to Saban Entertainment. My work here inspired my next startup.

Founded a company that bought and sold domain names and keywords. Amassed an extensive catalog of TLDs at a time when most didn't understand a need for domain names. The catalog was acquired. First real exit. In hindsight, sold too early for too little but allowed me to bootstrap for my next startup. Learned that I'm comfortable taking some risks in business because that's what you do when you create a startup. Also learned that the art of selling a company is just as important as the art of creating one.

Santa Clara, Ca, Us

After evening classes in college, went to work the night shift as a law librarian helping stressed out law students find the law.Learned early on how to help people when they're stressed and juggle my time wisely across multiple commitments.

Billings, Mt, Us

Handled new account formation and relationships with high net worth customers and sold investment instruments. Ranked top regional salesperson for two quarters. Worked full days while attending evening classes. Learned how to cold call customers and build relationships with regular customers. I also learned about the importance of relationship building in business.

San Francisco, California, Us

Handled new account services. Prior to that, was a bank/merchant teller with perfect balance histories. Worked consistently while attending school. Learned the importance of never ending the day out of balance, literally, and that a smile goes a long way because people do business with people they like.

Santa Clara, Ca, Us

Banking role. Was responsible for new account relationships, certificates of deposit, lending support. Learned about banking but, more importantly, I learned about how to deliver good customer service.

Education record

Executive Education

Education record

Entertainment Law Certificate

Jd

Mba Program

Bs/Bs, Summa Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa

Education record

Education record