SoLI Not Silos: The Difference Is Important

Hopefully SoLI will conclude with specific calls to action or a roadmap for the change that is needed in legal.

Over the past almost four years, I have travelled more than I ever imagined (or desired) for Evolve Law events. Hundreds of conversations later, I can safely report that we still desperately need to break down the silos between regulators, academia, lawyers, legal service providers, and technologists. Often the same people repeat the same conversations, in isolation, and then everyone, myself included, go back to our day jobs. With Vanderbilt Law’s SoLI in Nashville next month, hopefully we will conclude with specific calls to action or a roadmap for the change that is needed in legal.

I sat down with co-organizer Cat Moon at ABA TECHSHOW to discuss how SoLI will make a difference by being different, “We’re bringing together a diverse group of thought and action leaders to share some big (and perhaps provocative) ideas with the goal of creating connections and breaking down the traditional silos that, frankly, are keeping the legal profession from moving forward with the speed, efficiency, and creativity required of us. I believe that radical collaboration is critical to the kind of innovation we need across sectors — legal practice, legal education, and even legal technology — and this is what we seek to create through SoLI.”

As a presenter in the Innovation in Legal Technology session, I am excited about the 10/10/10 format as opposed to a panel. These “Igniter” talks will be 10 minutes maximum in length, with no more than 10 slides that cannot have more than 10 words on a slide. Most importantly, each presenter must end with a call to action challenging SoLI colleagues to do something specific. After the presentations, the audience participates in a facilitated dialogue to help create a roadmap. We have been challenged to be provocative in our ideas which should led to spirited discussion.

In addition to Technology, the conference has two other Igniter Innovation rounds, one on Academia and a second on Practice. These two start the day and are followed by a working lunch session facilitated by co-organizer Larry Bridgesmith. Next, Cat will lead a boot-camp session, described as “a human-centered design sprint to engage all participants in hands-on creative problem-solving. One goal is to have all participants leave SoLI with small experiments to run in their practice or organization or academic institution that contribute to meaningful innovation in their corner of the legal ecosystem. And to have a network of SoLI colleagues who can help support and encourage the small experiments.”  The notion of failing fast by experimenting is a not a comfortable approach for the law. This holds the entire profession back because the best innovation happens during an iterative process. The need to be perfect or paralysis until there is an ultimate technology, hampers the legal profession.

Again, SoLI’s keynotes and presenters are not the usual suspects and each Igniter session is designed to create action. The organizers have drawn from outside the country and industry.  The sessions even include one on leading lawyers without a license.  For those who might wait until next year, Cat cautions, “We’re designing SoLI to be a unique experience each year — iterating on what works and experimenting with new ways to create connection and collaboration beyond the day of the event itself.” The conference itself is an experiment and will change based on the outcomes.

Cat’s final comment gives me hope that we can effect change, “We’re going to get farther, faster, if we figure out how to do it together. SoLI is a platform to facilitate radical collaboration.” Join us at SoLI on April 30th, and as always, reach out on Twitter @maryjuetten to discuss innovation and change.


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Mary E. Juetten

Mary E. Juetten lives on the West Coast, holds a J.D., and is both an American and Canadian professional accountant. Mary is passionate about metrics that matter and access to justice. She founded Traklight and Evolve Law and consults as an Access Advocate for LegalShield. You can reach her by email at info@evolvelawnow.com or on Twitter: @maryjuetten.

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