Extrapreneurship, Interdependence, and a Law Without Walls:

The Future of Innovation in Legal Education and Practice?

Michele DeStefanoAssociate Professor, Miami Law

Founder, LawWithoutWallsFebruary 2013

Today, two questions

are commonly asked:

1) When are legal educators going to start training our law students with the skills to be

the global 21st Century lawyers of tomorrow?

And2) When is legal practice going to innovate to

tackle the challenges of our “new” global marketplace?

If we depicted

these two questions

graphically, the picture

would be of

. . . A Set of Pointing Fingers

Instead of

. . . A Pair of Clasped Hands

And that

is a

Problem

And thatProblem

isthe

reasonwhy

I set out

to create

The success of LawWithoutWalls

has shown that we should

and can tackle both questions

at once.

We should transform the way

we practice law and

the way we educate our lawyers

at the same time

Given advances intechnology

andchanges

that will takeplace

over thenext 15 years

law schools are training students

for jobs that have not yet been conceived

let alone created

Tomorrow’schallenge

requires even more collaboration

and permeability between law practice and education

than ever before

We shouldchange

the relationship between

legal education and practice

The relationship should be

based on a model of

Extra-preneurship & Collaboration

an iterative partnership with a mentality of law without walls.

In other words,

Our challenge is not just

to be intrapreneurs

within our organizations

Our challenge is not just to be

entrepreneurs that build

something new and apart from our

existing organizations.

Our challenge is to build

a law without

walls between

lawyers and law Schools. . .

Our challenge is

to be . . .

extrapreneurs.

What is an extrapreneur?

There doesn’t appear to beone

definition of an extrapreneur

nor has it been usedin the legal space

but it istime

to define itand make it ours

An extrapreneur is a person with an

entrepreneurial spirit(an intrapreneur)

. . .

that not only chooses to apply

those talents to their

own organization

but also applies those talents

externally to other

organizations

And thenbrings

those experiences back

internally.

There is evidence thatthe market

is readyfora

more

Iterative Partnership between Law Schools and Legal Service Firms

First, even those

that don’t believeRichard Susskind,

believethat

law is and needs to be

innovating

There are manyexamples

Of intrapreneurship

withinlegal servicecompanies

Second, there

has beena

great dealof innovation

in bothlegal education

and practice

There are manyexamples

Of entrepreneurs

In thelaw market

Third, there

is movementtowards

interdependentrelationshipsbetween lawschools and

lawyers

Externships

Clinics

Executive Education Programs

Partnershipsand

Collaboratories

White & Case & Jindal

ECOLE HEAD1st Private Law School in France

Founded with 15+ law firm and business partners including:

Hogan LovellsSBKG

Mayer BrownMorgan LewisSkadden Arps

OrrickAnd others

Reinvent Law

LawWithoutWalls Global Law Firm Partner: Eversheds

These efforts

Threaten Current Roles

However,a relationship model

that is based on collaboration,

interdependency,and iteration

And reciprocal obligations

provides a better basis for tackling

the challenges the law market faces today.

Think Apple’s Parallel Production

What if

That was the kind of relationship

That existedbetween

law schoolsand

Law firms?

The big

question is

how?

How can the law market

own holistic disruption

given the current status of the law market?

Given that both

legal educationand

legal Practicework in a

Law WITH walls

And innovation,exaptation,

and mashupsflourish

in open markets

In a Law Without Walls

How do we Become

extrapreneurs in law?

How do we develop

a partnershipbetween

legal educationand

legal practice

so that law students

andlawyers

are trained for the

future

UsingLawWithoutWalls

as aprototype

6fundamentals

to thisnew

allegianceunveil

themselves

1) Find and Mine the Gaps

Take Problems That Can’t Be Solved

And Turn Them Into Opportunities

Fill the Gaps

Go into the gaps. If you can find them;

They shift and vanish too.Stalk the gaps.

Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn, and unlock – more than a map

– A universe.-Annie Dillard

2) Create a Blended Universe

Blended in

every aspect

Virtual and In Person

Space, Place, and Discipline

Age and Culture

3) Develop a Culture of Collaboration

. . . and Dynamic Teaming

4) Dare to Disturb

. . . And indeed there will be timeTo wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?”

. . . Do I dare

Disturb the universe?In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

- TS Eliot

5) Accept Imperfect Offerings

Ring the bells that still can ring.Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything.That’s how the light gets in.”

- Leonard Cohen

Remember Thomas Edison

claims he “failed [his] way to success.”

6) Move Now and Fast

“Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff,

you are not moving fast enough.”- Mark Zuckerberg

Others are

callingfor

change

Academic Thought Leaders:like

Elizabeth Chambliss,Bill Henderson,Renee Knake,Tom Morgan,

Deborah Rhode,Carole Silver,

Brian TamanahaLaurel Terry, and

David Wilkins

Practitioner Thought Leaders:

Jeffrey Carr,Susan Cartier Liebel

Jordan Furlong,Mark Harris,

Bryan Hughes,Stephanie Kimbro

James Peters,Doug Richmond,

Scott Rogers,Karan Singh,Mark Smith

havechallenged

law organizationsOr

law firmsOr

law schoolsto change

They are all right.

Law schooland

Law practicecan

and needs tochange

More than that,

it is time for a shared mission,

a new kind of partnership

betweenlaw schools and lawyers

based on

extra-preneurship,collaboration

interdependencyand

A law without walls.

LawWithoutWalls,itself,

is clearly not the answer

Ithas it’sown

problems:

LikecostAnd

scale-ability

Butits mission

And its learningsare

auseful

templatefrom which

to start.