In Post 133, Legal Evolution is proud to feature excerpts of Lucy Bassli’s new book, The Simple Guide to Legal Innovation: Basics Every Lawyer Should Know (2020).
When it comes to legal innovation, many practicing lawyers find themselves in an awkward position. Clients and law firms value responsiveness and problem solving, thus there are big rewards for lawyers who fill their days with wall-to-wall legal work. Yet, the more a lawyer adheres to this incentive structure, the less equipped they become to adapt to new ways of practice that better serve their clients. Even worse, there is no reliable way to gauge how quickly the tides might turn. When they do, many are bound to feel foolish.
The Simple Guide is designed to be a life preserver tossed to the large portion of the legal profession — I would put the figure somewhere around 80% — who feel vulnerable to changes they lack the time and training to understand. Indeed, the following is a wholehearted compliment to Lucy Bassli: If you are a successful practicing lawyer, there is zero chance this book is over your head.
What I love most about Simple Guide is that it begins with Lucy’s personal story of how she became an “innovative lawyer” — the kind who is now sought out for sage advice on data, process, technology, project management, outsourcing, insourcing, workforce development, and other topics that regularly mystify line lawyers. Lucy makes this journey seem about as complicated as pulling on a string. The fragile lawyer-reader is thus rewarded with a sense of confidence and clarity regarding what to do next.
Lucy’s excerpt in Post 133 is a sampling from Chapter 1, which is Lucy’s personal journey, and Chapter 7, which is the heart of the book and covers Lucy’s very useful “need-to-know” topics. The middle, however, contains some fascinating topics, including a primer on legal operations (ch. 3), an overview of legal technology (ch. 5, including AI and Blockchain), and why legal innovation is destined to be a rocket ship for women, finally delivering significant advancement and influence (ch. 6).
Personally, I could not be more delighted with Lucy Bassli’s willingness to debut her wonderful new book with Legal Evolution readers. See The Simple Guide to Legal Innovation (133). Enjoy!