Legal Rebels

How this duo is trying to ReInvent law school

Editor’s note: Last week Paul Lippe noted several programs shaking up the traditional legal ed model. Here, two professors share details about one of those programs. Greetings from ReInvent Law, our law laboratory devoted to technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship at Michigan State University College of Law. You read that right.…

May 9, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

D-Day for law school deans

By now, it’s old news that law is in a pickle. But if you look at that dust cloud on the horizon, you’ll see the Deans’ Cavalry riding to the rescue. For some time we’ve been saying that the recent “disengagement” strategy of law schools, aspiring to be uber-departments of…

May 1, 2013 1:40 PM CDT

When measuring achievement of lawyers, should hours or results matter most?

Not long ago, I was speaking before a group of law firm managing partners who were curious about how we ran a firm without keeping track of hours. One manager asked how we handled associate reviews considering we don’t track billable hours. Before answering, I asked how many used hours…

Apr 25, 2013 2:11 PM CDT

Was Rutgers GC blamed for properly managing a process to the wrong outcome?

If you follow college basketball, you haven’t been able to avoid the Rutgers University athletic department’s meltdown over the last week in which (i) a disgruntled former assistant coach provided a videotape of abusive behavior in practice by the head basketball coach, (ii) the athletic director first chose to discipline,…

Apr 11, 2013 1:40 PM CDT

Future of law includes big data, bigger competition and global jurisdictions

Lawyers be warned: Big data analytics, such as programs that predict settlement outcomes by a few percentage points, computers that universally interpret and comprehend state and international laws, and competitors who deliver legal services more quickly, cheaply and successfully than traditional bricks-and-mortar law offices are permanently shifting the legal landscape.…

Apr 4, 2013 2:28 PM CDT

What clients are saying about the future—and what it means

Twice a year, I serve as a faculty member for a two-day program designed to help inside and outside lawyers use Value Fees. Each of these programs begins with a “present state/future state” exercise. The inside counsel and outside counsel adjourn to separate rooms, and each group identifies what is…

Apr 3, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Why ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyers’ is required reading

Far and away the best analyst and predictor of the evolution of the legal marketplace is Richard Susskind, the U.K.-based academic and futurist. Richard has a new book out called Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future. It is a slim and readable volume, laying out the case why law…

Mar 27, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

Social media helps Legal Rebel grow her practice

Photo of Carolyn Elefant by Arnold Adler. Carolyn Elefant Rebel Year: 2010 Home: Bethesda, Md. What she’s been up to: Carolyn Elefant, the woman behind My Shingle, continues to blog about sole-practice life and grow her legal practice. An energy lawyer who loves trains and travel, Elefant says that today…

Mar 26, 2013 1:46 PM CDT

Law schools should consider med-school model—a dean’s view

Recent news reports suggest broad-based support for a major free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. Many are confident that a pact will be concluded within the next two years—one more giant step in the ongoing elimination of barriers to an integrated global economy. Until very…

Mar 13, 2013 1:54 PM CDT

Why waste the crisis in legal education?

As previewed in a previous post, I had the chance last month to speak to the ABA’s meeting of law school deans. The meeting was off the record, so I can’t disclose any of the group discussions. But I can share my own observations based on what I’ve heard from…

Mar 7, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Why clients fear alternative fee arrangements

I was catching up on a pile of reading when I was confronted with a piece about the “fear” among general counsel of alternative fee arrangements. Just a few days before, I had highlighted a piece in Richard Susskind’s new book, Tomorrow’s Lawyers, where he observed that “in truth, hourly…

Feb 27, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Online legal info free for 20 Latin American countries

Photo of Tim Stanley by Tony Avelar. Legal Rebels Update: Timothy J. Stanley Rebel Year: 2009 (Read his profile from 2009.) Home: Los Altos, Calif. What he’s been up to: Twenty Latin American countries—including Mexico, Colombia and Cuba—now have access to free, online legal information thanks to Timothy J. Stanley…

Feb 26, 2013 7:30 PM CST

Only law schools that tackle costs, graduate client-centered lawyers will survive—a dean’s view

As calls for reform of legal education continue to suggest a variety of directions, one thing is certain. Law schools will be expected to do more with less. We often hear legal educators highlight tensions within the loud criticisms aimed at today’s law schools. Critics tell us that costs are…

Feb 21, 2013 5:53 PM CST

Adding value, managing costs, and participating in the conversation–a dean’s view

A key part of my job as dean of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law is to improve value for our students. That means both improving the educational experience and making law school more affordable. At Denver Law, we are addressing affordability by, among other things, increasing the…

Feb 14, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Finding ways to keep fees low is ‘09 Legal Rebel Luz Herrera’s passion

Photo of Luz Herrera by Tony Avelar. Legal Rebel Luz Herrera Rebel Year: 2009 (Read her profile from 2009.) Home: San Diego What she’s been up to: Showing Thomas Jefferson School of Law students and alumni ways they can charge affordable rates and support themselves continues to be Luz Herrera’s…

Feb 1, 2013 2:30 PM CST