Legal Pads to Litigation Tech: Tim Violet Reflects on 50 Years of Industry Change
ClaimDeck is proud to acknowledge and congratulate Tim Violet on the 50th anniversary of his being sworn into the bar.
In the spring of 1976, after graduating with honors from what is now Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Tim passed the bar and began his legal career. For the next 22 years, beginning in June of 1976, Tim worked for Hubbard Milling Company, a Minnesota-based agribusiness.
Before its acquisition in 1997, Hubbard was the second-largest manufacturer of private-label pet food in the world and a major producer of animal feeds throughout the “corn belt” states. As Vice President and General Counsel, Tim was responsible for Hubbard’s legal department and all administrative departments of the company. He retired following the completion of the sale.
Three years later, Tim came out of retirement to become Executive Director of The Harmonie Group, an international network of insurance defense firms. After 22 years in that role, it was announced that Tim would retire effective June 30, 2023. Under his leadership, The Harmonie Group expanded significantly in both the United States and internationally.
A look back at the moments that shaped Tim’s career.
Following a meeting in New York in 1992, over 30 years ago, the Group began with a small handful of nine U.S. firms. When Tim joined in 2001, the Group had grown to 31 firms. From those early days, Harmonie expanded to include member firms throughout the United States, firms in Canada through its sister network, the Canadian Litigation Counsel, firms across Europe, and a number of firms in Asia and Australia. By the time of Tim’s retirement, Harmonie had grown to more than 100 firms worldwide.
From left: Dwayne Hermes, Tony Ellrod, Tim Violet, Felix Hörlsberger, and Al De La Cruz.
After 200 days of retirement, Tim was enticed to come out of retirement once again. He now serves as Director, Business Development, North America, for ClaimDeck, the developers of a state-of-the-art litigation management technology platform that is revolutionizing how litigation is managed.
To mark this milestone, we asked Tim to share his reflections on the changes he has seen throughout his 50-year career:
I have to first thank all of my mentors, sponsors, employers, associates, clients, members, partners, and family who have contributed so much to my career. I am truly grateful for all that has been done for me.
As I reflect on these 50 years, there are many things that have changed. But one category sticks out beyond all others: the advancement of technology.
Some may recall these examples; others may say they have never heard of them, but here goes. When I started my career, we had 14-inch legal pads, paper files, onion-skin paper copies, teletypes, drum printers, white-out correction fluid, and many others.
From there, progress overtook this old technology, and not everyone wanted the change. But in came fax machines, voicemail, IBM Selectric typewriters, desktop computers, word processors, operating system software, dictation machines, and so forth.
Then came a big jump: cell phones, apps, portable laptops with system-driven work product, calendars, contacts, spreadsheets, email, text messaging, and more. All of this led to a revolution in practice methodology: paperless file systems, instant sharing of work product, electronic filing with court systems, Zoom and Teams, and so many other advancements.
No one could have imagined our future from where we came. It is a collage of advancements from multiple sources, proponents, and stakeholders. But remember, all of these had a champion behind each step, both internally and externally. Hooray for them all. We are in a better place because of their leadership.
Test: what do you feel like when you can’t locate your cell phone? A different paradigm.
I ask this question to emphasize that these technology advances, while taken for granted today, are essential to what we each do. Not all of these changes were readily accepted. In many cases, there was significant resistance. But the march of progress will not be stopped.
Today, we can’t imagine going back to working the way we did in the past. I have enjoyed the many changes and look forward to what the future brings.
Be a leader. You will enjoy and benefit from it.
— Tim Violet
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As Tim marks 50 years at the bar, he continues to share the lessons learned along the way. Through his I’ll Be Brief series, Tim offers concise, practical insights drawn from decades of experience in litigation, claims, and leadership.
Explore I’ll Be Brief for short reflections on what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change.
