I’m not surprised to see some significant stories recently about aggressive efforts by law departments to trim bloated lists of outside law firms and end up with leaner and more aligned panels. There are many reasons: corporate directives, economic stress, cost-cutting initiatives, reports of NYC associate billing rates topping $1,000 an hour, partners hoarding billable
My New Role at Center for Law, Technology & Innovation at Michigan State University
From the press release:
MSU Law’s Center for Law, Technology & Innovation Under New Interim Leadership
Dennis Kennedy will lead MSU College of Law’s Center for Law, Technology & Innovation (CLTI) as its interim director.
Professor Kennedy has been a member of the faculty at MSU Law since 2018, serving as an adjunct professor of
A Bunch of Recent Podcasts
I’ve been doing a lot of podcasting and “Zoomcasting” lately and wanted to collect links to them all in one place in this post.
The Kennedy-Mighell Report Podcast
Tom and I have done some great shows on some cool topics lately. We have some great stuff planned for the next few months, so it’s a
Featured Service: Legal Innovation as a Service – Assessment
Corporate legal departments and law firms have reached the point in the pandemic where they must start to move beyond triage to the first steps to moving forward.
The path from where we are to where we want to go starts with a solid understanding of where we actually are.
And there is no time
The Biggest Disconnect in the Legal Industry?
The Biggest Disconnect in the Legal Industry?
(COVID-19 Version)
We seem to be living in a time when what is most important today already seems like old news tomorrow. It’s difficult, on so many levels. The seeming comfort of a “return to normal” appeals more than the discomfort of change and innovation. However, either/or is
Innovation Tips and Priorities for Mid-sized Law Firms
Joanna Goodman recently asked me for some tips on how firms can go about balancing the need to control costs and manage the expectations of their partners and staff with investing in innovation to retain and win business and maintain competitive advantage as lockdown is lifted.
What should firms’ (especially mid-sized firms) priorities be for
Free Chapter – Diversity is Essential (from Successful Innovation Outcomes in Law)
Chapter 11. Diversity is Essential
There are times, usually when I’m in a room full of white men who look and think in the same ways, that the idea I’ll discuss in this chapter is the most controversial opinion I can state in the innovation setting. However, it’s my core belief.
Diversity, in and of
Exponential Law Community Challenge of the Month Video
One of my new collaboration efforts is the Exponential Law Community. I invite you to learn more about it and join here.
In one of first big experiments, Mike Cappucci, Dean Khialani, Shellie Reid, and I did livestream Zoom session in which we applied the FoundationLab / Exponential Law Community idea validation framework
Student Papers from My Spring 2020 Law School Courses
I taught two law school classes this past semester: “Delivering Legal Services” at Michigan State University College of Law and a brand new courses called “Legal Technology Literacy and Leadership” at the University of Michigan Law School. To put it mildly, the pandemic presented some challenges for both classes, but the students impressed me with
What is a Consulting Innovator?
In The Sign of the Four, Arthur Conan Doyle writes this exchange between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson:
I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession,—or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”
“The only unofficial detective?” I said, raising my eyebrows.