When Gavin Le Ber enrolled in a joint computer science and law program, he wasn’t chasing efficiency for its own sake. He was chasing leverage. “I went into law school thinking, okay, there's this real great opportunity here to synergize my computer science background and interest in technology and software with a legal education.” That decision would define his approach to law – not as a static profession, but as a system ripe for optimization. Today, as associate general counsel at CarltonOne, Le Ber brings that systems mindset to solving real business problems on a global scale.
It was Richard Susskind’s Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future that first reframed his perception of legal practice. Susskind’s vision of the enhanced lawyer – powered by technology, unconstrained by traditional roles – became a blueprint for what Le Ber would pursue. But the pivot from computer science wasn’t just philosophical. “I realized that a lot of programming... was going to be me sitting alone in a room puzzling over these interesting logistical problems. And I’m a social guy. I like to work with people,” he says.
That dual fluency got its first test during an internship at Shopify. On day one, he was handed two paper copies of a contract and asked to flag differences. When handing the work in, he made the business case for contract-review software – a small but telling move that revealed how he approached problems. Efficiency wasn’t a preference. It was the principle.
He put that theory into action at Advocates LLP, where he focused on construction litigation. “We worked on a file that had... 1.5 million documents,” he says. The opposing firm brought in a team of associates to handle the review. Le Ber’s team built their own approach. “You winnow it down to the actual relevant stuff... and then even more so to the 10 key documents that you’re going to tell the story,” he says. Leveraging classification models and e-discovery tools, they turned a flood of data into a courtroom narrative.
Still, construction litigation wasn’t where he saw his long-term future. He wanted to move toward tech and privacy, and his firm let him. They told him “Gavin, none of us know anything about privacy law... if you want to go out and find clients, we’re not going to say no.” That led to collaborating with a data consultant, helping clients translate dense, technical architectures into policy frameworks. “It was really fun,” he says, “getting to translate some of those technical problems into legal language.”
From there, he joined Index Exchange, a global advertising technology platform. His first project was a sweeping data mapping initiative. “It was great,” he says. “It connected policy, law, and infrastructure – everything I like to work on.” That blend of legal application and systems design would prove pivotal as he shifted into a fractional counsel role, advising multiple companies at once across tech and entertainment. “It was this great opportunity to take what I’d learned and apply it across industries... and still be close enough to the business to understand how the technology worked.”
One of those clients was CarltonOne. When they offered him a full-time position in late 2024, the timing was right. “CarltonOne has been focused on growth,” he says. “They’re in an interesting space... there’s this real opportunity to be in a fast-paced environment.” Now, as sole in-house counsel – supported by one long-tenured paralegal – Le Ber handles everything from product review to board advising.
The legal team may be small, but the scope is expansive. CarltonOne operates in over 180 countries. “We make use of people who are experts in their jurisdiction or niche,” he says. Local counsel helps with the complexity, but Le Ber’s priority is building scalable systems. “To me, the unique perspective I bring is in legal operations and streamlining some of the processes... providing better insight into the efficiencies of various initiatives.”
He leans low-code knowledge management tools to bring structure across the business. “All software is essentially a reskinned Excel,” he jokes, but he’s not chasing novelty – he’s chasing repeatability. “You simplify and make systems that people understand... integrate with how they’re already doing their work and just facilitate a better, more efficient workflow.”
That foundation is what makes technology like AI valuable – not the tool itself, but the context it works within. “The more you have your house in order... the more capable you are and prepared you are to make use of AI,” he says. But he’s cautious of hype. “AI is a great hammer... but someone’s got to pick it up and swing it at the end of the day.” He doesn’t believe in shortcuts that bypass understanding. “If you want to build a robust system for scaling to be really fast over the long term... you have to eat your vegetables.”
He sees AI working best when layered over disciplined systems. “If you’re doing the work of annoyingly renaming all your files to the same thing and putting them in places where you know where they are... the effort... has a return in that you know what you’re doing,” he says.
When asked what separates good external counsel, Le Ber doesn’t hesitate. “It really... comes down to understanding the business,” he says. Niche experts can deliver fast, accurate results, but real value comes from those who engage deeply with context. “I like to look under all the rocks,” he says. And in-house, he can.
That curiosity helps him balance the tactical with the strategic. “You’ve got to make sure that... your sales team is happy, and you’re moving contracts... and then at the same time, you’ve got to make time for the other stuff,” he says. Blocking out time to build systems, even amid chaos, is how his team stays ahead.
He’s also clear-eyed about legal tech’s future. “Probably 80 percent of the value of the tools is going to come from 20 percent of the applications,” he says. Whether it’s search, triage, or document review, the power of AI will depend on the strength of the foundation it’s built on.