Law21 Twitter Updates- Lawyers don't want to hear about future of law involving automation: http://t.co/Hnj5K41e (kind words, smart observations by @ernieattorney)
Author Archives: Jordan Furlong
The stewardship crisis
Over the legal news wire this week came a report of the closure of a US law firm. The full report of the firm’s demise was restricted to those with a premium account that I have no interest in acquiring, and in any event, the details of what happened weren’t relevant to what caught my [...]
Posted in Leadership 5 Comments
Too many partners
Law firms, facing a formidable array of external trends and pressures, are simultaneously experiencing a series of internal shocks and shakeups. The most prominent of these is an ongoing reconsideration of the role played by each member of the firm — a process of asking, “What function do you play in this enterprise, and could [...]
Posted in Big Firms, Management 6 Comments
Learning to run
There’s an old expression among professional sports coaches: “You can’t teach speed.” It’s usually meant to indicate that there are things you can train athletes to do well (skills) and things that are simply God-given (raw talent), and it encourages the traditional view that talent is more valuable. I’ve come to believe differently. In most [...]
Posted in CLE, Law School, Talent 6 Comments
Seen and (on one occasion) heard
Before launching into a roundup of what I’ve written elsewhere, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be in Chicago next week for a series of meetings, in particular the College of Law Practice Management‘s 2011 Futures Conference at the University of Chicago-Kent College of Law. In addition to presiding over the 2011 InnovAction [...]
Posted in Law21 Leave a comment
The franchised future of small law firms
Today’s dispatch from England & Wales, the world’s legal laboratory, informs us of a new company called Evident Legal that is setting up the latest in a series of law firm franchises. Simplify the Law (STL) aims to create a national network of law firms with between 2 and 20 partners that serve both individual [...]
Posted in Innovation, Solo & Small Firm 2 Comments
Fixing the failings of new lawyer training
Last week, I contended that when it comes to the current lawyer admission process, law schools are part of the problem and show little interest in being part of the solution. Two articles published since then do give me some hope for the academy, both from Canadian law school deans: “Five new developments to reshape [...]
Posted in Governance, New Lawyers, Technology 2 Comments
The decline and fall of law school
As every frustrated customer knows, there comes a time when you stop trying to negotiate with a stubborn supplier and start looking for alternatives. I think that time is just about here for the legal profession in its relationship with law schools. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you probably already know that [...]
Posted in Law School 3 Comments
At the crossroads of regulation
I respectfully suggest that we stop using the following lines from Henry VI Part 2, Act 4, Scene 2 in conversations about the modern legal profession: DICK: The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers. CADE: Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of [...]
Posted in Governance 1 Comment
Canadian Judicial Council 40th Anniversary Conference, Ottawa, ON
I’m honoured to organize and present a special session on the future of the justice system during the 40th Anniversary Conference of the Canadian Judicial Council at the Hilton Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Québec (near Ottawa) on Wednesday, April 18, 2012.
Posted in Speaking Engagements Leave a comment
The year of living dangerously