Legal Evolution PBC

The Delta Model: simple, accurate, versatile (125)

By Shellie Reid

November 10, 2019

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” — Albert Einstein The members of the Delta Model working group imagine a world, not too far off, where law schools, legal employers and clients all share a common touchstone for lawyer development. For the last two years, we’ve been working on such a touchstone, which we call the Delta Model. Our current version is expressed in the graphic above.…

Legal Evolution

Special guest contributors from the Delta Model working group (124)

By Bill Henderson

November 10, 2019

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.…

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Updates to a 100-year old talent model (123)

By Tim Mohan

October 27, 2019

One law firm’s experience, so far, with a new system for finding, developing, and retaining high-quality talent. Let’s start with the basics. My name is Tim Mohan. I am the Chief Executive Partner of Chapman and Cutler LLP, an AmLaw 200 firm with six offices and approximately 240 lawyers. We were founded in 1913 when two lawyers, Theodore Chapman and Henry Cutler, left their jobs with two Chicago financial institutions to open a…

Legal Evolution

Guest Contributor Tim Mohan (122)

By Bill Henderson

October 27, 2019

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…

Legal Evolution

Toward evidence-based legal education reform: First, let’s experiment (121)

By Dan Rodriguez

October 13, 2019

Legal education is ripe for properly designed experiments. It’s time to get started. In my last post, Legal Education is a Data Desert (096), I described the deficiencies in data available and mobilized on behalf of clear-eyed assessment of legal education outcomes. While noting some conspicuous exceptions, I said that there’s simply not enough attention to the critical data necessary to evaluate legal education and, with it, to undertake and assess reform. This post (121)…

Legal Evolution

Special Post: Dentons rolls out Project Golden Spike (120)

By Bill Henderson

October 9, 2019

No matter what happens, we’re all going to learn something. 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…

Legal Evolution

Become part of the solution (119)

By Bill Henderson

September 29, 2019

Our challenges will be solved by the next generation of legal professionals. We all become richer when we invest in them. This pattern fits me and many lawyers I know: We applied to law school with a sincere, passionate personal statement about doing good. We worked hard to show we deserved our spot in the class. We focused on getting a job that enabled us to build our legal career while also paying back our…

Legal Evolution

IFLP Data Download (118)

By Bill Henderson

September 29, 2019

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 Post 018 (discussing Tech Lawyer Accelerator (TLA) program); Post 113 (TLA-IFLP timeline), IFLP was formed to scale the key learnings…

Legal Evolution

General counsel stand up to improve the legal talent supply chain (117)

By Bill Henderson

September 29, 2019

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 counsel colleagues to support this effort. OPEN LETTER SUPPORTED BY GENERAL COUNSEL IMPROVING THE LEGAL TALENT SUPPLY CHAIN Many young…

Legal Evolution

Optimizing Legal Ops in law firms (116)

By David Cunningham

September 15, 2019

Defining, Streamlining, and Measuring Data-Driven “Legal Ops” “Legal operations” was popularized by CLOC, ACC, and a hundred vendors capitalizing on selling to newly energized corporate legal departments. It became shorthand for running legal departments as a business. Then a funny thing happened — law firms realized that these departments were surpassing their own operational insights, efficiencies, and agility. Law firms became the lesser informed party – a distinct disadvantage in a data-driven buyer’s…

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The Delta Model: simple, accurate, versatile (125)

Special guest contributors from the Delta Model working group (124)

Updates to a 100-year old talent model (123)

Guest Contributor Tim Mohan (122)

Toward evidence-based legal education reform: First, let’s experiment (121)

Special Post: Dentons rolls out Project Golden Spike (120)

Become part of the solution (119)

IFLP Data Download (118)

General counsel stand up to improve the legal talent supply chain (117)

Optimizing Legal Ops in law firms (116)

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