ABA Journal: Legal Rebels

Ten years ago, Rodney Smolla was featured as a Legal Rebel for leading an innovative plan at Washington and Lee University School of Law to eliminate traditional third-year coursework and replace it with experiential learning. Many law schools opened clinics in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Smolla, but when Washington and Lee revised its 3L coursework in 2009, legal education for the most part had been unchanged for the past century. People had long thought that it was time for change, regardless of whether they were for or against experiential learning, Smolla tells the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward. Special thanks to our sponsor, Nexa and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

It's good to be seen as a "thought leader," but don't call yourself that in marketing materials, says lawyer, professor and small business owner Max Miller. "It should be evident," Miller told the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode of the Legal Rebels Podcast. "You shouldn't have to put it in your LinkedIn profile." Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

Mark Britton, who founded and sold the online attorney ratings site Avvo, is taking a break. This helps with creativity but does cause him some discomfort. After his years of making money from attorneys on his site, he has some business development advice for the profession—zero in on groups of people who might hire you and figure out how they want to be spoken to, he tells the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward. Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

When David Van Zandt became dean of what is now Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law in 1995, he faced a steep learning curve, he tells the ABA Journal's Jason Tashea. But he had a good sense of the demands on recent graduates and lawyers. He also took on faculty hiring and tenure–a third rail in higher education–by hiring those for tenure track positions with not only JDs, but PhDs. Named an ABA Journal Legal Rebel in 2009, Van Zandt is now the president of the New School in New York. Whether grappling with political issues of the day or an oppositional faculty, Van Zandt has continually forged ahead for the changes he believes in. Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

Before they were buzzwords, Luz Herrera was a pioneer in the world of "low bono" practice, nonprofit law firms and legal incubators. In this episode of the ABA Journal's Legal Rebels Podcast, Herrera speaks with Angela Morris about how a low-bono practice can enable a lawyer to balance the desire to help people with making a living.   Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

Jeff Carr has been on a 40-year path of improving lawyer efficiency and effectiveness. "There's an old saying that if you pay for service by the hour, you buy hours and not service," he says. "And I still believe that very much." In this episode of the Legal Rebels Podcast, Carr speaks with ABA Journal reporter Jason Tashea about why he came out of retirement, and how his principle of the Three Es calculated the value of legal services to clients. Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

In the 10 years since Emery K. Harlan, co-founder of the National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms, was featured as an ABA Journal Legal Rebel, he says little has changed for diversity in the profession. "I think it's stayed about the same," Harlan tells the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward. "The lesson we can take from diversity and inclusion is that there needs to be vigilance. There can never be a point where we can say we've achieved all there is to achieve. I think this year's [Am Law] partnership classes is an indicator of that." Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

When Ralph Baxter joined the inaugural class of Legal Rebels in 2009, he was the CEO and chairman of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Just a year into the biggest recession since the Great Depression, he caught the ABA Journal’s attention through his initiatives that took Orrick from a domestic, California-based firm to an international heavyweight while navigating economic turbulence. Since leaving the firm in 2013—after 23 years as chairman–he has gone on to consult with law firms looking to improve their business and service models, sit on the board of LegalZoom and run for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from West Virginia in 2018. In this episode, he speaks with the ABA Journal’s Jason Tashea about where the profession has been and where he thinks it’s headed. Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

Many lawyers are reluctant to new adopt legal technology, says Monica Goyal, who developed platforms including My Legal Briefcase, which helps parties in the Canadian small claims courts, and Aluvion Law, which uses automation to cut legal services costs for small businesses. "We think young lawyers are on Facebook, Twitter, they're using computers, and that somehow they will be more willing to try and experiment with new technology. I've found that's not the case," Goyal tells the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode of the Legal Rebels Podcast. Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.

Chatbots have a place in a law office because they can handle busy work that eats up precious time in a lawyer’s day, says LawDroid founder Tom Martin in this episode of the ABA Journal’s Legal Rebels Podcast. By wiping out such mundane tasks, it frees up time for meaningful human interactions between lawyer and client that no machine can master, he tells host Angela Morris. Special thanks to our sponsor, Answer1 and Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge.