Most of the essays contained in this book are from speechesgiven at one of the Central-States Law School Association's(CLSA) annual meetings held at St. Louis University Schoolof Law. Speakers from throughout the United Statesdiscussed a variety of vital issues of legal education. Togive readers an even broader view of major topics in legaleducation, a selected bibliography has been included in thefinal portion of this book. This book will be of interestto pre-law advisors, students, and faculty as well as youngto experienced, senior law professors.
“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.
Paul Maharg presents a critical inquiry into the identity and possibilities of legal education, and an exploration of transformational alternatives to our current theories and practices of teaching and learning the law. His work takes the view that bodies of interdisciplinary theory and knowledge of the history of legal education are important to all stages of legal education. He also argues that new learning designs - such as transactional learning - need to be developed to help students, educators and lawyers deal with the transitions and challenges facing them now and in the foreseeable future. Throughout, discussions of theory are spliced with case studies of academic and professional legal learning, particularly in the field of technology-enhanced learning. The content of the book will be updated in a community of practice wiki at http://www.transforming.org.uk, which will also allow readers to comment and expand on the book's final chapter.
One book answers every important question facedby today?s new law students and their families: Law School Insider is an easy-to-read, step-by-steplaw school guide taking readers through every stage of the law school experience from applyingto graduating and beyond. Includes special sections tailored to the diverse concerns of modern female and male law students.
Shines a light on the emerging field of law dedicated to responding to and resolving the crises of the twenty-first century In an increasingly globalized world, a complex and interlocking web of nations, governments, non-state actors, laws, and rules affect human behavior. When crisis hits—whether that be extrajudicial detention, unprompted deportation, pandemics, or natural disasters—lawyers are increasingly among the first responders, equipped with the knowledge necessary to navigate the regulations of this ever more complex world. Crisis Lawyering explores this phenomenon and attempts to identify and define what it means to engage in the practice of law in crisis situations. In so doing, it hopes to sketch out the contours of the emerging field of crisis lawyering. Contributors to this volume explore cases surrounding domestic violence; dealing with immigrants in detention and banned from travel; policing in Ferguson, Missouri; the kidnapping of journalists; and climate change, among other crises. Their analysis not only serves as guidance to lawyers in such situations, but also helps others who deal with crises understand those crises—and the role of lawyers in them—better so that they may respond to them more effectively, efficiently, collaboratively and creatively. Crisis Lawyering shines a light on the emerging field of law dedicated to responding to and resolving the complex crises of the twenty-first century.
How we interpret and understand the historical contexts of legal education has profoundly affected how we understand contemporary educational cultures and practices. This book, the result of a Modern Law Review seminar, both celebrates and critiques the lasting impact of Peter Birks’ influential edited collection, Pressing Problems in the Law: Volume 2: What is the Law School for? Published in 1996, his book addresses many critical issues that are hauntingly present in the 21st century, amongst them the impact of globalisation; technological disruption; and the tension inherent in law schools as they seek to balance the competing interest of teaching, research and administration. Yet Birks’ collection misses key issues, too. The role of wellbeing, of emotion or affect, the relation of legal education to education, the status of legal education in what, since his volume, have become the devolved jurisdictions of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland – these and others are absent from the research agenda of the book. Today, legal educators face new challenges. We are still recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our universities. In 1996 Birks was keen to stress the importance of comparative research within Europe. Today, legal researchers are dismayed at the possibility of losing valuable EU research funding when the UK leaves the EU, and at the many other negative effects of Brexit on legal education. The proposed Solicitors Qualifying Examination takes legal education regulation and professional learning into uncharted waters. This book discusses these and related impacts on our legal educations. As law schools approach an existential crossroads post-Covid-19, it seems timely to revisit Birks’ fundamental question: what are law schools for?
In today’s rapidly changing legal landscape, becoming a digital lawyer is vital to success within the legal profession. This textbook provides an accessible and thorough introduction to digital lawyering, present and future, and a toolkit for gaining the key attributes and skills required to utilise technology within legal practice effectively. Digital technologies have already begun a radical transformation of the legal profession and the justice system. Digital Lawyering introduces students to all key topics, from the role of blockchain to the use of digital evidence in courtrooms, supported by contemporary case studies and integrated, interactive activities. The book considers specific forms of technology, such as Big Data, analytics and artificial intelligence, but also broader issues including regulation, privacy and ethics. It encourages students to explore the impact of digital lawyering upon professional identity, and to consider the emerging skills and competencies employers now require. Using this textbook will allow students to identify, discuss and reflect on emerging issues and trends within digital lawyering in a critical and informed manner, drawing on both its theoretical basis and accounts of its use in legal practice. Digital Lawyering is ideal for use as a main textbook on modules focused on technology and law, and as a supplementary textbook on modules covering lawyering and legal skills more generally.
The world's legal professions have undergone dramatic changes in the 30 years since publication of the landmark three-volume Lawyers in Society, which launched comparative sociological studies of lawyers. This is the first of two volumes in which scholars from a wide range of disciplines, countries and cultures document and analyse those changes. The present volume presents reports on 46 countries, with broad coverage of North America, Western Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, North Africa and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and former communist countries. These national reports address: the impact of globalisation and neoliberalism on national legal professions (the relationship of lawyers and their professional associations to the state and tensions between state and citizenship); changes in lawyer demography (rapidly growing numbers and the profession's efforts to retain control, the entry of women and obstacles to full gender equality, ethnic diversity); legal education (the proliferation of institutions and pedagogic innovation); the regulation of lawyers; structures of production (especially the growth of large firms and the impact of technology and paraprofessionals); the distribution of lawyers across roles; and access to justice (state-funded legal aid and pro-bono services). The juxtaposition of the reports reveals the dramatic transformations of professional rationales, labour markets, and working practices and the multiple contingencies of the role of lawyers in societies experiencing increasing juridification within a new geopolitical order.
This new book is an edited collection of papers arising from a conference on Law and Development in the twenty-first century held in 2001. It is in honour of the work of Dr Peter Slinn.
