Frances Dupree
Frances Dupree is a strategic Legal Operations professional and South East Regional Leader for CLOC (Corporate Legal Operations Consortium), known for building data-driven infrastructure that enables legal departments to operate with clarity, credibility, and impact. Based in Grayson, Georgia, she brings more than a decade of experience spanning contract management, e-billing, entity management, procurement, and legal systems optimization long before she formally realized these disciplines collectively defined the field of Legal Operations. Her cross-functional background allows her to collaborate seamlessly with Legal, Finance, Compliance, Procurement, and executive leadership to design solutions that are both operationally sound and strategically aligned.
Originally aspiring to become an attorney, Frances was accepted to law school but made a pivotal decision after her first semester to reassess her path. Through that self-evaluation, she recognized that her natural strength lies in solving problems and building systems that help others succeed. Legal Operations became the perfect intersection of that passion and purpose. She is currently pursuing her MBA, further strengthening her business acumen and executive perspective. Her day-to-day responsibilities include partnering with outside counsel on invoice review and discrepancy resolution, managing e-billing workflows, setting up approval structures and cost allocations, administering matter management systems, and overseeing user access and governance. She works extensively across leading legal technology platforms, ensuring processes are scalable, transparent, and defensible.
Frances’ proudest professional achievement is implementing an e-billing system from the ground up alongside her director—transforming an environment that previously had no structured system into one with real-time visibility, controls, and accountability. From workflow design to stakeholder training and financial reporting, she helped build the program’s foundation, making it a cornerstone of operational discipline within the department. She often refers to this implementation as “her baby,” a testament to the ownership and care she brings to every initiative. Passionate about infrastructure, stakeholder buy-in, and sustainable change, Frances is dedicated to ensuring legal teams are empowered to focus on what they do best—while Legal Operations builds the engine that helps them thrive.
• Making the Most of an Organizational Change
• CLOC Academy Level 100 Core 12 Foundations
• Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
• Ironclad CLM Core Administration
• Park University - BCJ
• Kaplan University -AAS in Paralegal Studies
• Harvest Bible University - BA, Theology/Theological Studies
• CLOC (Co-Regional Leader)
• Women's Ministry Leader at Church
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a strong foundation of mentorship, resilience, and a natural problem solving orientation. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have mentors who opened doors, provided guidance, and helped shape my professional growth by reinforcing the value of relationships and networking. I also credit my willingness to reflect, pivot, and follow what truly energizes me. This became especially clear when I transitioned from pursuing law school into legal operations after realizing that my passion lies in building operational systems that help organizations and people succeed rather than practicing law. My success is further driven by my hands on approach to solving real world challenges by designing practical, scalable solutions that improve how teams work. One of my proudest achievements is building an e billing platform from the ground up with my director, transforming a previously manual process into a structured, data driven system that increased visibility, efficiency, and control. By combining strategic thinking, technical implementation, and cross functional collaboration, I strive to create operational infrastructure that enables legal teams to perform at their highest level.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say trust her instincts. She matters, she's important. I say that because I've overcome battling mental health, and I grew up in the system. Having that type of background, sometimes you feel as though you're not important, or you feel as though you can't be good, or you feel as though you can't accomplish certain things because of where you come from, but it doesn't matter where you start, it matters where you end.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of my biggest challenges right now is budget forecasting, figuring out the right way to do that.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Trust is very important, and dependability. One thing I take personally, especially at work, is that because I'm solving problems for people, I want to know that the things they're struggling with matter and are important. When I go into meetings, I don't necessarily ask what the problem is. A lot of times when you listen, you can hear what someone is struggling with, what their pain points are. I always try to make people know that they're valued, that they're important, that they're seen and heard, and what they're saying is not being swept under the rug. That goes for my personal life too. I'm that person that reaches out to everybody to make sure they're okay, or if they need anything, or if they're going through something, just checking up on them, making sure they're alright. I just value people in general.