Mitchell Zucklie
Make careers paths flexible. Most law firms are still operating under a rigid up-or-out model that assumes partnership for life is the goal. We need to disrupt that for women, for diverse lawyers, for all of us.
Make legal education more team-oriented. We need to shift emphasis from individual scholarly contribution to the teamwork model that is essential to actual practice. Law schools can learn from business schools.
Embrace technology. With data and process mapping more readily available, the junior lawyer's contribution is more about advice and problem solving. We need to embrace technology more quickly and fully.
Own the problem collectively. We need law schools, law firms, corporate legal departments and the non-profit and government sectors to exchange ideas and experiment. The Women in Law Hackathon is a great model: Out of a year of dialogue and some healthy competition came concrete, systemic change, the Mansfield Rule. Let's bring the same focus and collaboration to bringing the best talent back to our profession.
Focus on social need. The pace and social impact of innovation is staggering, and increasingly requires government to rely more heavily on the private sector. We need good lawyers more than ever.
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