Thomson Reuters' director of legal transformation loves having something new to learn everyday
Tyrilly Csillag was the first in her family to go into law, and when she got her first job in the profession, her goal was to clear the way for the next generation of aspiring lawyers.
Since then, she has worked both in private practice and in-house, and is currently director of legal transformation at Thomson Reuters. In the first part of this March interview, Csillag applies a Maya Angelou quote to lawyers and talks the important of the little moments with family.
What made you choose a career in law, and what's your favourite part of the job?
My career choices to date have been a combination of pursuing three passions: English, history, and technology. I have always had a sense that I wanted to utilise the learnings from the past to shape the future of society in an impactful way, and my fascination with technology dates back to when my father brought home our very first computer.
When I enrolled at university, there weren’t many courses that explored the intersection of technology and law; it was a nascent field, but that only sparked my curiosity further! Today, my favourite part of the job is that there is still something new to learn every day – whether I am speaking to fellow lawyers or working with experts at Thomson Reuters.
What has been the most memorable event of your career to date?
With no history of legal professionals in my family, a significant milestone in my career was securing my first job in the industry. I was determined to make the absolute most of the opportunity and to knock down barriers to entry for the aspiring lawyers that followed me.
I am privileged to have now spent time in both private practice and in-house roles, and now at Thomson Reuters in a role dedicated to driving the transformation of the industry. It is a full-circle moment being able to give back to elevating my legal peers through our extensive investment in AI technology and our trusted reputation for legal content and know-how.
What’s your biggest career learning, and what advice would you give to fellow aspiring lawyers (especially women in law)?
Maya Angelou’s quote, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” is as true for lawyers in their professional world as it is for society at large.
Much of what you will achieve in your career will depend on whether you make your stakeholders feel valued and whether, in turn, they trust your opinion. To do that, you must be a solution-finder. For me, this means committing to making every interaction with my network meaningful. They get the best of my time, experience and passion being solution orientated.
If you could relive one day in your life, which day would it be and why?
This is a tough question to answer! I’m always super grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time with my family, and we love travelling, so I would choose to relive one of our family trips. The older I get, the more I realise that as life and careers get busy, the little moments with family refill your cup.
That’s why I am so passionate about helping lawyers realise technology's time-saving potential. Just last year, our Future of Professionals report cited that professionals could save an estimated 200 hours per year by optimising their work with a trusted GenAI legal assistant. Encouragingly, respondents believed that time would allow them to see concrete improvements in four key areas: more innovation (79%), greater focus on expertise-driven work (66%), opportunities for continual skill building (57%), and improved work-life balance (51%).
