Cynthia L. Brown

  • Executive Director, Research & Knowledge Services
  • Sacramento
cbrown@littler.com
Call Cynthia

As Littler's Senior Director of Research Services, Cynthia Brown leads a team of research librarians, assistant librarians and interns to provide the firm’s lawyers and clients with the research resources they need to succeed.

Cynthia is part of the firm’s knowledge management leadership team and is involved daily in the Knowledge Management Department’s efforts to develop innovative systems, procedures and work flows. She reports directly to the firm’s Chief Knowledge Officer.

She manages and creates roadmaps for the collection of critical data, sifting of data for relevance and preparing that data to be pushed out to the right people at the right time. She also oversees all of the firm’s research-vendor relationships, utilizes analytics to determine which tools are needed to maintain the relationships and gathers important data for negotiations. In addition, Cynthia investigates new research and technology tools to ensure that the firm has cutting-edge resources.

Cynthia started Littler’s legislative tracking team in 2010. The team feeds Littler GPS, the firm’s client-based flagship service. Thousands of bills are reviewed daily via a custom built system to provide Littler’s attorneys and clients with insights about pending and enacted labor and employment legislations on federal, state and local levels.

Cynthia leads the team that created the KnowledgeDesk, a resource that enables Littler’s attorneys to connect to subject matter experts and a vast collection of databases, print materials, practice group information, internal work product and proprietary data collections. The KnowledgeDesk team efficiently searches to locate the exact nugget of knowledge that attorneys need.

Via the KnowledgeDesk, attorneys are connected to law firm librarians who are perfectly suited to liaise between attorneys and a legal KM department. With adept archival, research, organization, analysis and synthesis skills, Cynthia’s team takes the guesswork out of determining who to contact, where information resides and determining which external or internal resource best addresses an attorney’s need. During its first year the KnowledgeDesk proved to be extraordinarily successful taking in over 18,000 requests, with 26,000 requests expected in its second year.

Prior to joining Littler, Cynthia served as head librarian at a full-service regional law firm and as general counsel at a privately held company.

*Not licensed to practice law in California.

Credentials & Recognition

Speaking Engagements

Law Firm Librarians Respond to COVID-19

  • November 19, 2020
  • Northern California Association of Law Libraries

Case Study: How a Dynamic KM Infrastructure will Help Future-Proof Your Firm (even in the event of a pandemic)

  • October 19, 2020
  • Ark Group’s 16th Annual Knowledge Management in the Legal Profession

Panelist, Benchmarking the Library - Through a New Lens

  • June 17, 2020
  • ARK Group. Law Firm Libraries 2020

Additional Thought Leadership

Supporting Firm Resources Through COVID

  • September/October 2020
  • AALL Spectrum

Talking Tech: Task Automation in the Law Library

  • July/August 2020
  • AALL Spectrum

Leadership in the Time of COVID

  • June 2020
  • MAALL Markings Vol 29, Issue 3

Books & Book Chapters

Chapter 8: How strong relationships and expertise aid business development with clients – a case study

  • The Evolution of the Law Firm Library Function
  • Wilmington plc
  • June 2018

Let us know how we can help you navigate your particular workplace legal issues.