Avoiding Extinction Reimagining Legal Services For The 21st Century

“Mitch Kowalski has translated his considerable understanding of tomorrow’s legal profession into an original, provocative and entertaining narrative.” —Professor Richard Susskind, author of The End of Lawyers? “This is the most innovative law practice management book I’ve ever seen. Mitch has deftly combined an engaging novel about the lives of working lawyers with an illuminating treatise on how law firms must respond to extraordinary change in the legal marketplace. Avoiding Extinction is as entertaining as it is instructive -- and it couldn’t be more timely.” —Jordan Furlong, Partner, Edge International “This is a must read for managing partners, and for all lawyers under the age of 50. Written as a parable, once you pick it up it’s difficult to put down. And it literally screams relevance to the lives of those lawyers today who worry about the sustainability of the current model of legal practice. Big firm or small. City or rural – no matter, this book is for you. Can the law be both a profession and a business? Is it possible to escape the tyranny of the billable hour? Is it realistic to imagine being a truly happy lawyer in private practice in the twenty-first century? You bet – and Mitch Kowalski shows us how! —Ian Holloway QC, Dean of Law, The University of Calgary “Avoiding Extinction is the most original, far-thinking and innovative book on transforming the way that law is practised that I have ever read. Mitch has taken the traditional law firm and turned it upside down. In the process he has reworked the law firm model and given us an insight into how a firm could be structured and run. If you are looking for a creative vision into what a new, truly different law firm could look like, then this book is manna from heaven.” —David J. Bilinsky, Practice Management Advisor, lawyer and writer on law practice management and technology. Creator of the law blog, Thoughtful Legal Management.

Few can doubt that the Great Legal Reformation is under way. It is refreshing that this book does not simply look to advances in technology and artificial intelligence as the cause or the future. Instead, an evolutionary combination of falling demand from clients wanting more for less, an over-supply of lawyers, and a rise in the number and influence of in-house lawyers using outsourcing and managed legal services is changing the face of legal practice. Organizational and regulatory change, declining motivation and increasing stress among lawyers, as well as technological development, are all making law firms more challenged and challenging places for the practice of law. And yet, paradoxically, unmet legal needs persist throughout the market and the world over. Thankfully, a few trailblazers are breaking the mould. They refuse to muddle through, carrying on as though a return to 'business as usual' and 'the good old days' is just around the corner and will be their salvation. They are willing to turn their backs on long-standing traditions and practices, and prefer to place their faith and future in the long-term rather than the short, on value, capital and investment rather than charging for time and income extraction, and on engagement, success, development and alternative career paths for their employees rather than on employee churn and all-or-nothing tournaments. Through in-depth case studies and vignettes, Mitch Kowalski takes us on a tour to meet the innovators and to eavesdrop on his conversations with them. This is not a glimpse into the future of how he and others might see the legal world developing as the Great Legal Reformation unfolds. This is an insight into the here and now?into what these innovators have already envisioned and achieved. These are the platforms from which yet further innovation and re-formation of the market will be driven, and which those who are stuck behind?whether practitioners or regulators?are in danger of struggling to reach.

It’s refreshing that this book does not simply look to advances in technology and artificial intelligence as the cause or the future of the Great Legal Reformation. Through in-depth case studies and vignettes, Mitch Kowalski takes us on a tour to meet some of the trailblazers breaking the legal service provider mould, allowing us to eavesdrop on his conversations with them. This is not a glimpse into the future of how he and others might see the legal world developing as the Great Legal Reformation unfolds. This is insight into the here and now - into what these innovators have already envisioned and achieved. These are the platforms from which yet further innovation and re-formation of the market will be driven. From the power and opportunity of regulatory change to enable structural change, access to capital and the participation of people who happen not to be lawyers; through the need to focus on efficiency, continuous improvement, process and project management; to the enduring value of vision, culture, values, leadership, energy and employee engagement, these studies and conversations inform, reveal and challenge. They do not present the new world through rose-tinted glasses or deny the existence of risk: the story of Slater & Gordon’s mixed fortunes is testament to that. But they do show a different way of thinking and acting. Whether lawyers like it or not, these are initiatives that buyers of legal services welcome. —Stephen Mayson ,strategic advisor to law departments, legal services providers and regulators “This is an indispensable handbook for any aspiring legal innovator—a well-researched, accessible, and fascinating collection of dispatches from the cutting edge of legal business.” —Professor Richard Susskind OBE, author of Tomorrow’s Lawyers “Mitch Kowalski ... shows us what the new professional world actually does look like. He takes us on a tour of Great Britain, Australia, and the United States, and introduces us to lawyers in big firms and small, serving clients both private and public. The picture that emerges is of a new breed of legal service provider that embraces entrepreneurship, teamwork and technology in a way that seems both unfamiliar and obvious to all lawyers.” —Dr Ian Holloway PC QC, ,Professor and Dean of Law, The University of Calgary “This book will either give you hope or a much needed kick in the pants. Either way it's a win-win.” —Stephen Allen, , legal innovator, Hogan Lovells “Mitch Kowalski does it again. Diving deep inside some of the world’s most innovative legal providers Mitch discovers the future of law in the present. A must read for anyone involved in the legal profession.” —John Chisholm, leading Australian legal commentator and advisor

Explores the international legal regime covering trade in legal services, considering major barriers and potential benefits to the global economy.

With a new preface outlining the most recent critical developments, this updated edtion of The Future of the Professions predicts how technology will transform the work of doctors, teachers, architects, lawyers, and many others in the 21st century, and introduces the people and systems that may replace them.

Leadership includes the ability to persuade others to embrace one’s ideas and to act upon them. Teaching law students the art of persuasion through advocacy is at the heart of legal education. But historically law schools have not included leadership studies in the curriculum. This book is one of the first to examine whether and how to integrate the theory and practice of leadership studies into legal education and the legal profession. Interdisciplinary in its scope, with contributions from legal educators and practitioners, the book defines leadership in the context of the legal profession and explores its challenges in legal academia, private practice, and government. It also investigates whether law students need to study leadership and, if they should, why it should be offered as part of the curriculum. Finally, it considers how leadership should be taught and how it should be integrated into classes. It evaluates new leadership courses and the adaptation of existing courses to reflect on how to effectively blend law and leadership in doctrinal, clinical, and experiential classrooms. The book includes a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and noted leadership scholar, James MacGregor Burns and a foundational essay by prominent leadership scholar and one of the founders of the International Leadership Association, Georgia Sorenson. It will be a valuable resource to anyone interested in leadership, education policy and legal ethics.

Leadership includes the ability to persuade others to embrace one’s ideas and to act upon them. Teaching law students the art of persuasion through advocacy is at the heart of legal education. But historically law schools have not included leadership studies in the curriculum. This book is one of the first to examine whether and how to integrate the theory and practice of leadership studies into legal education and the legal profession. Interdisciplinary in its scope, with contributions from legal educators and practitioners, the book defines leadership in the context of the legal profession and explores its challenges in legal academia, private practice, and government. It also investigates whether law students need to study leadership and, if they should, why it should be offered as part of the curriculum. Finally, it considers how leadership should be taught and how it should be integrated into classes. It evaluates new leadership courses and the adaptation of existing courses to reflect on how to effectively blend law and leadership in doctrinal, clinical, and experiential classrooms. The book includes a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and noted leadership scholar, James MacGregor Burns and a foundational essay by prominent leadership scholar and one of the founders of the International Leadership Association, Georgia Sorenson. It will be a valuable resource to anyone interested in leadership, education policy and legal ethics.

A critical history of the Americanization of legal education in fourteen countries The second half of the twentieth century witnessed the export of American power—both hard and soft—throughout the world. What role did US cultural and economic imperialism play in legal education? American Legal Education Abroad offers an unprecedented and surprising picture of the history of legal education in fourteen countries beyond the United States. Each study in this book represents a critical history of the Americanization of legal education, reexamining prevailing narratives of exportation, transplantation, and imperialism. Collectively, these studies challenge the conventional wisdom that American ideas and practices have dominated globally. Editors Susan Bartie and David Sandomierski and their contributors suggest that to understand legal education and to respond thoughtfully to the mounting present-day challenges, it is essential to look beyond a particular region and consider not only the ideas behind legal education but also the broader historical, political, and cultural factors that have shaped them. American Legal Education Abroad begins with an important foundational history by leading Harvard Law School historian Bruce Kimball, who explains the factors that created a transportable American legal model, and the book concludes with reflections from two prominent American law professors, Susan Carle and Bob Gordon, whose observations on recent disruptions within US law schools suggest that their influence within the global order of legal education may soon fall into further decline. This book should be considered an invaluable resource for anyone in the field of law.