Uncategorized

Best-Selling Author and Legal Futurist Richard Susskind to Speak at Baylor Law

by BLAdmin

Ed Nelson, Baylor Law’s Director of Marketing & Communications

Richard Susskind, best-selling author, futurist, legal tech expert, and adviser to major law firms and national governments, will discuss the Future of Litigation, at the 2021 R. Matt Dawson Endowed Lecture at Baylor Law. He is the author of ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future’ and ‘Online Courts and the Future of Justice,’ released in December of 2019.

The virtual event, scheduled for Friday, Jan 29, 2021 11:30 CT, will be hosted by Co-Director of Baylor Law’s LL.M. in Litigation Management, Professor of Law Liz Fraley.  Pre-registration is required at www.baylor.edu/law/DawsonLecture.

Susskind will discuss how lawyers need to prepare for the coming disruption that technology, costs, and competition will bring to litigation and advocacy. Along with finding new ways to do business, attorneys will also need to watch out for new competitors trying to lure clients, while recognizing how new and evolving technologies will radically change the litigation process in the future.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO REGISTER

Academia, Leadership, Uncategorized

Why do we not have more leadership development programs in law school?

by BLAdmin

By Leah Teague

Leadership development programs are part of the standard operating procedures for business schools but not so for law schools, at least historically. At a Group Discussion during the January 2017 AALS Annual Meeting, we met with about 50 faculty members from all over the country and we asked them to share thoughts about challenges and roadblocks to creating leadership development programs and courses. Here are some points from the conversation:

  • What is leadership development anyway? How do we explain it to our skeptical colleagues?
  • Some lawyers and law students resist instruction in “soft skills.” The very use of the term when describing leadership development adds to the problem. For many lawyers the soft stuff is the hard stuff.
  • Many still think leaders are born not trained. You either have it or you don’t, they would say.
  • Doctrinal law faculty (especially those who have not been in formal leadership roles) feel uncomfortable with the subject and certainly do not feel equipped to teach it.
  • Current law students think they have already done leadership development … in high school and in college. “What could possibly be added in a law school leadership class?”, they might wonder. Some faculty and administrators probably share these thoughts.
  • For those that believe in the benefit of leadership development programming, how can we scale up the programming to insure all students are exposed to leadership development in a meaningful way?

These are some of the challenges we face. If you have encountered others, please share. As we continue this blog, we will address these issues and offer suggestions for overcoming.

– LT

Academia, Leadership

Why is leadership important for the future of the legal profession… and society?

by BLAdmin 
 By Leah Teague

The need for leaders in our communities, in our country, has never been greater. A survey by the Harvard Center for Public Leadership found that over two-thirds of Americans think the nation has a leadership crisis. Some believe our nation has never been more complex, polarized, and siloed than now. We need leaders who have vision, values, integrity and the ability to see beyond the narrow perspectives of one side. We need lawyers to step up and play more active roles in their communities.

Lawyers offer many skill sets that are helpful in accomplishing goals and effectuating change. Law schools develop students’ proficiencies in identifying and analyzing issues and problems, and in communicating clearly and persuasively as necessary. Lawyers know that negotiation and compromise may be necessary to move past gridlock. Our code of professional conduct establishes an expectation of civility and integrity in our actions.

Will we recognize that lawyers’ highest and best use is not as legal technicians (although that will sure be required)? Will we remember that our role as legal analysts, advocates and problem solvers allow us to effectively counsel and influence clients and organizations?

Leah Teague

But the legal profession is at a crossroads as well. What will be the role of lawyers in society in the future? The profession is forever changed—we have an inkling of what’s to come with technology and the impact of artificial intelligence on our profession, but we don’t really know the full implications. Which of our traditional lawyering tasks will be automated? How will we adapt? Will we recognize that lawyers’ highest and best use is not as legal technicians (although that will sure be required)? Will we remember that our role as legal analysts, advocates and problem solvers allow us to effectively counsel and influence clients and organizations? Will we finally find a way to stem the tide of mistrust in lawyers and lack of faith in the institution that is our system of democracy and its rule of law?

Planning for what society needs from lawyers in the future is why we should begin to think about skills beyond learning substantive law or technical skills, which have been the focus of law schools traditionally. The skill sets needed as counselors and leaders—those who are going to help clients and organizations work through their issues—are going to be even more important to lawyers in the future. They will be just as important as professional responsibility, ethics, and service to the public. Leadership should be equally pervasive in our language as we teach our students about our obligations and opportunities as lawyers.

-LT