My older brother used to give my teenaged self (with some justification) a hard time about playing Dungeons & Dragons. I eventually grew tired of the cracks about wasting time in a fantasy world, though, and I assembled what I considered a strong defence of the game. “D&D helps you build a lot of skills,” I said. “You… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Innovation
Why law firms need R&D investment
Lawyers hardly ever talk about research and development. We might be the only major industry or professional sector that fails to do so. Last year, total spending on R&D by the world’s 1,000 largest companies was about $638 billion, according to the Strategy& 2013 Global Innovation 1000 Study. The 10 companies that spent the most on R&D (from Volkswagen… Read more »
Watershed: The CBA Futures Report
This morning, the Canadian Bar Association released the widely anticipated Final Report of its CBA Legal Futures Initiative, “Futures: Transforming The Delivery Of Legal Services In Canada.” I had the benefit of receiving an advance copy a few days ago, so I’ve had time to review the report and prepare some thoughts. My primary thought is this: The… Read more »
The failure of legal innovation
Okay, I admit: that was a pure linkbait headline. Not quite as bad as 17 Heartwarming Photos That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity, but still, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to draw in people who might be thinking (hoping?) that I’d given up on innovation in the legal market. But the headline isn’t a complete fraud…. Read more »
An incomplete inventory of NewLaw
So I was asked to give a presentation about “NewLaw.” No problem at all — aside from the minor, niggling detail of figuring out what “NewLaw” is supposed to be. Like other terms in vogue within the legal profession (cf. “non-lawyer”), we seem to understand better what “NewLaw” isn’t than what it is. George Beaton of Australia, who has written more… Read more »
You say you want a revolution?
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m convinced of a couple of things: (1) Fundamental shifts in the legal services environment will spawn a diverse population of new providers that will expand access to those services while destroying lawyers’ market exclusivity; and, (2) This is, on balance, a good… Read more »
Advice to associates about law firm efficiency
I recently delivered a webinar to a group of associates at one of my law firm clients, as part of the firm’s internal CPD and training program. (I referred them to my recent posts about associates, which probably didn’t make them very cheerful.) Among the advice I gave the associates was to start looking for… Read more »
ABS in Canada? Closer than you might think
This post was originally published as two articles in the October 25 and November 1, 2013 issues of Canada’s The Lawyers Weekly newspaper. Reproduced here with thanks. Unless you’ve been making a special effort not to notice them, you’re probably aware of Alternative Business Structures (ABS), the most radical of several developments introduced in England… Read more »
Law firm innovation: From idea to implementation
I was honoured to deliver a 20-minute TED-style presentation last week at the 2013 Futures Conference, produced by the College of Law Practice Management and hosted by the University of Chicago-Kent Law School. I was hardly the main attraction — Ann Lee Gibson and Bill Henderson gave tremendous presentations, and people are still talking about Stephen… Read more »
Why lawyers don’t innovate
“How can I get my lawyers to change?” This might be the question I hear most frequently from managing partners and law firm CEOs who are trying to help their organizations innovate and adapt to the new marketplace, but who are frustrated by the fierce resistance they encounter. The conventional culprit is lawyers’ bullheaded refusal… Read more »