I recently turned 57 years old. Although I am dismayed and disappointed by many things happening in our republic, and impatient with an industry, profession and educational complex that is supposed to operate in the public interest, whatever quantum of cynicism I possessed went away in 2019. Moreover, it happened quickly, albeit many of the pieces were put into place more a decade ago.
Continue Reading Losing my cynicism (131)
This week, I’m pleased to welcome back occasional contributor Dan Currell, who in today’s feature post reviews the recently published book, The Trust Revolution, by M. Todd Henderson and Salen Churi. See Post 130.
Dan’s return provides an opportunity to explain his mysterious title (Former Managing Director, AdvanceLaw) in the right side bar. Dan’s current title is Senior Advisor in the Office of Finance and Operations at the U.S. Department of Education. But to post that title would arguably require a clarification that Dan’s views are his own and not necessarily those of the current Administration or the Department of Education (in the unlikely event either has views on legal innovation).
Continue Reading Dan Currell’s insightful views are his own (129)
I am pleased to introduce today’s guest contributor, Anusia Gillespie, who currently serves as Director of Innovation at Eversheds Sutherland (US). As demonstrated in Post 128, Gillespie has the full innovator’s tool box: multiple perspectives (law, design, business operations, technology, and strategy), systems thinking, intellectual courage, astute observation, and the patience and confidence to learn through controlled trial and error.
Continue Reading Guest contributor Anusia Gillespie (127)
The above graphic is a map of the human capital needed to create “one-to-many” legal solutions (Human Capital Map). It’s a dense graphic on a complex topic. To explain its structure and the key insights it provides, I’ll cover the following topics:
Continue Reading Human capital for one-to-many legal solutions (126)
A couple of years ago, a talented group of legal professionals began working on a competency model that reflects and fully captures the skills of 21st century legal practice — a daunting task, but perhaps one ideally suited for a patience, persistent, multidisciplinary team. In today’s feature post (125), the group shares their work product, which is called the Delta Model.
Continue Reading Special guest contributors from the Delta Model working group (124)
For today’s feature article (Post 123), I am pleased to introduce, Tim Mohan, Chief Executive Partner of Chapman and Cutler, an AmLaw 200 focused on financial institutions and financial services companies.
I met Tim more than a decade ago because he was one of the few law firm leaders who regularly attended programs on law firm management. More often than not, Tim was there as an attendee rather than a speaker, quietly collecting data points to help him understand the market and formulate a strategy that could help his firm succeed.
Continue Reading Guest Contributor Tim Mohan (122)
In 2014, I was invited to lunch with Joe Andrew, the chairman of Dentons, in his DC office. The invitation came from John Fernandez, an Indiana Law alum who joined Dentons a couple of years earlier after two decades in government. Joe and John came up through the ranks together in Indiana Democratic politics, with Andrew eventually becoming Chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party (from 1995-1999) and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1999-2001).
Continue Reading Special Post: Dentons rolls out Project Golden Spike (120)
This pattern fits me and many lawyers I know: We applied to law school
This post is a data-rich progress report on the Institute for the Future of Law Practice (IFLP, “I-flip”).
For readers unfamiliar with IFLP, here are basics. IFLP is an education nonprofit that combines sophisticated training in modern law practice with paid internship for law students. Following a successful multi-year pilot at Colorado Law, see
General counsel exert an outsized influence on the legal market. Through the open letter below, some of them are taking the long view by trying to influence the health and vitality of the legal talent supply chain. They are looking for other general counsel to join them.
Want to make a difference? Encourage your general
