destefano, extrapreneurs, interdependence, & a law without walls
DESCRIPTION
Today, two questions are commonly asked by professionals in the United States law market: 1) When are legal educators going to start training our law students with the skills to be the global 21st Century lawyers of tomorrow? and 2) When is legal practice going to innovate to tackle the challenges of our “new” global marketplace? At the heart of these two questions is the assumption that it is not legal education’s responsibility to change the way law is practiced and that it is not practicing lawyers’ responsibility to change the way future lawyers are educated in law school. It is this assumption that I intend to challenge here. Specifically, I will argue that although there has been recent innovation in legal education and practice, the answer to law’s problems lies, in part, in changing the relationship between legal education and practice. I will argue that the relationship between legal education and practice should be based on a model of extrapreneurship, interdependence, and collaboration. The relationship should be an iterative partnership with a mentality of law without wallsTRANSCRIPT
Extrapreneurship, Interdependence, and a Law Without Walls:
The Future of Innovation in Legal Education and Practice?
Michele DeStefanoAssociate Professor, Miami Law
Founder, LawWithoutWallsFebruary 2013
Today, two questions
are commonly asked:
1) When are legal educators going to start training our law students with the skills to be
the global 21st Century lawyers of tomorrow?
And2) When is legal practice going to innovate to
tackle the challenges of our “new” global marketplace?
If we depicted
these two questions
graphically, the picture
would be of
. . . A Set of Pointing Fingers
Instead of
. . . A Pair of Clasped Hands
And that
is a
Problem
And thatProblem
isthe
reasonwhy
I set out
to create
The success of LawWithoutWalls
has shown that we should
and can tackle both questions
at once.
We should transform the way
we practice law and
the way we educate our lawyers
at the same time
Given advances intechnology
andchanges
that will takeplace
over thenext 15 years
law schools are training students
for jobs that have not yet been conceived
let alone created
Tomorrow’schallenge
requires even more collaboration
and permeability between law practice and education
than ever before
We shouldchange
the relationship between
legal education and practice
The relationship should be
based on a model of
Extra-preneurship & Collaboration
an iterative partnership with a mentality of law without walls.
In other words,
Our challenge is not just
to be intrapreneurs
within our organizations
Our challenge is not just to be
entrepreneurs that build
something new and apart from our
existing organizations.
Our challenge is to build
a law without
walls between
lawyers and law Schools. . .
Our challenge is
to be . . .
extrapreneurs.
What is an extrapreneur?
There doesn’t appear to beone
definition of an extrapreneur
nor has it been usedin the legal space
but it istime
to define itand make it ours
An extrapreneur is a person with an
entrepreneurial spirit(an intrapreneur)
. . .
that not only chooses to apply
those talents to their
own organization
but also applies those talents
externally to other
organizations
And thenbrings
those experiences back
internally.
There is evidence thatthe market
is readyfora
more
Iterative Partnership between Law Schools and Legal Service Firms
First, even those
that don’t believeRichard Susskind,
believethat
law is and needs to be
innovating
There are manyexamples
Of intrapreneurship
withinlegal servicecompanies
Second, there
has beena
great dealof innovation
in bothlegal education
and practice
There are manyexamples
Of entrepreneurs
In thelaw market
Third, there
is movementtowards
interdependentrelationshipsbetween lawschools and
lawyers
Externships
Clinics
Executive Education Programs
Partnershipsand
Collaboratories
White & Case & Jindal
ECOLE HEAD1st Private Law School in France
Founded with 15+ law firm and business partners including:
Hogan LovellsSBKG
Mayer BrownMorgan LewisSkadden Arps
OrrickAnd others
Reinvent Law
LawWithoutWalls Global Law Firm Partner: Eversheds
These efforts
Threaten Current Roles
However,a relationship model
that is based on collaboration,
interdependency,and iteration
And reciprocal obligations
provides a better basis for tackling
the challenges the law market faces today.
Think Apple’s Parallel Production
What if
That was the kind of relationship
That existedbetween
law schoolsand
Law firms?
The big
question is
how?
How can the law market
own holistic disruption
given the current status of the law market?
Given that both
legal educationand
legal Practicework in a
Law WITH walls
And innovation,exaptation,
and mashupsflourish
in open markets
In a Law Without Walls
How do we Become
extrapreneurs in law?
How do we develop
a partnershipbetween
legal educationand
legal practice
so that law students
andlawyers
are trained for the
future
UsingLawWithoutWalls
as aprototype
6fundamentals
to thisnew
allegianceunveil
themselves
1) Find and Mine the Gaps
Take Problems That Can’t Be Solved
And Turn Them Into Opportunities
Fill the Gaps
Go into the gaps. If you can find them;
They shift and vanish too.Stalk the gaps.
Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn, and unlock – more than a map
– A universe.-Annie Dillard
2) Create a Blended Universe
Blended in
every aspect
Virtual and In Person
Space, Place, and Discipline
Age and Culture
3) Develop a Culture of Collaboration
. . . and Dynamic Teaming
4) Dare to Disturb
. . . And indeed there will be timeTo wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?”
. . . Do I dare
Disturb the universe?In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
- TS Eliot
5) Accept Imperfect Offerings
Ring the bells that still can ring.Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.That’s how the light gets in.”
- Leonard Cohen
Remember Thomas Edison
claims he “failed [his] way to success.”
6) Move Now and Fast
“Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff,
you are not moving fast enough.”- Mark Zuckerberg
Others are
callingfor
change
Academic Thought Leaders:like
Elizabeth Chambliss,Bill Henderson,Renee Knake,Tom Morgan,
Deborah Rhode,Carole Silver,
Brian TamanahaLaurel Terry, and
David Wilkins
Practitioner Thought Leaders:
Jeffrey Carr,Susan Cartier Liebel
Jordan Furlong,Mark Harris,
Bryan Hughes,Stephanie Kimbro
James Peters,Doug Richmond,
Scott Rogers,Karan Singh,Mark Smith
havechallenged
law organizationsOr
law firmsOr
law schoolsto change
They are all right.
Law schooland
Law practicecan
and needs tochange
More than that,
it is time for a shared mission,
a new kind of partnership
betweenlaw schools and lawyers
based on
extra-preneurship,collaboration
interdependencyand
A law without walls.
LawWithoutWalls,itself,
is clearly not the answer
Ithas it’sown
problems:
LikecostAnd
scale-ability
Butits mission
And its learningsare
auseful
templatefrom which
to start.