I’m willing to wager that the one phrase most frequently spoken in partnership meetings, when the subject of potential new initiatives comes up, is: “Are any other firms doing this?” Law is virtually the only industry where a negative answer to that question is met with disappointment.

Doing what everyone else is doing will get you everyone else’s results. This is patently obvious, and lawyers are more than smart enough to recognize it. So the continued insistence by many lawyers that new and better results must be obtained by employing the same old approaches will have to remain one of life’s great mysteries.

Happily, there’s a sufficient (and growing) number of lawyers and law firms breaking that habit to enhance my own confidence that some members of the legal profession really are starting to get it, from the smallest solo practice to the largest global firms.

Back in the spring, for example, I announced a contest seeking five examples of 21st-century solo practice, which would be rewarded with a free one-year scholarship to Solo Practice University, courtesy of Susan Cartier Liebel and the rest of her team at SPU. I’m now very happy to announce the winning entries!

Our winners range from virtual family law practices focused on low-income clients to a special-education niche firm and an online environmental law practice. Our winners are June Gold of Connecticut, Jack Lebowitz of New York State, Diane Littlejohn of North Carolina and Neal Rice of Pennsylvania (the fifth winner will be announced at a later date). My best wishes and congratulations to these scholarship winners, and my thanks again to Susan and SPU for helping launch five more innovative law practices!

I also spent the spring and summer helping promote the College of Law Practice Management‘s InnovAction Awards, which recognize law firms and legal organizations that are committed to doing things differently and better in this marketplace. Today, I can announce that out of a near-record number of entries, we have three InnovAction Award winners from three different countries:

1. Law Without Walls, a multi-school initiative to rethink legal education, spearheaded by the University of Miami Faculty of Law
2. Lawyers on Demand, a brand-new legal service delivery model pioneered by London-based law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner
3. The Internationally Trained Lawyers Program, a bridging program for qualified foreign lawyers at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Yes, you read that right — two winning entries from law schools, confirming that the legal academy is part of the changing legal landscape as well.

I’d be seriously remiss, though, if I didn’t also recognize the excellent entries from law firms and legal organizations worldwide, especially from large law firms, that didn’t take home an award but that definitely merit your attention. They are: