At present, March 8, 2023, marks 10 years since Daniel Martin Katz, Renee Knake Jefferson and a bunch of colleagues and college students from Michigan State College College of Regulation hosted ReInvent Law Silicon Valley on the Pc Historical past Museum in Mountain View, Calif. Whereas this will appear a comparatively arbitrary date by which to mark the progress of authorized innovation and expertise, allow us to present two causes to mark this anniversary.
First, as this submit and the 2 that can observe it reveal, ReInvent Regulation had a significant affect on those that spoke, attended, and adopted alongside nearly lots of or 1000’s of miles away. This wasn’t simply “one other authorized tech occasion.” Second, Bob, writing later about one of the following events, ReInvent Law New York, said, “ReInvent Regulation was a manifestation of … a second of unprecedented innovation and creativity … [a] illustration of a a lot bigger groundswell.” If we solely knew what was to return!
To us, this anniversary gives pretty much as good an excuse as any to mirror on what has been an incredible decade for authorized expertise. It additionally affords the chance to acknowledge Dan, Renee, and their colleagues who’ve been significant contributors to this blossoming for way over 10 brief years and who, within the opinion of the individuals who participated in ReInvent Regulation in a technique or one other, put a significant stake within the floor recognizing all the trouble to realize the cutting-edge for the time but additionally an incredible image of what may and nonetheless might come.
For the following three days, we are going to submit a group of reflections from members, attendees or followers of the ReInvent Regulation Silicon Valley occasion. At present, we begin with reflections from three individuals who participated in ReInvent Regulation in a technique or one other. For every of the next two days, we’ll submit three extra reflections. We hope every reflection serves as a “thanks” to the ReInvent Regulation staff whereas additionally inspiring you to consider what may come within the subsequent 10 years.
– Dan Lear and Bob Ambrogi, collection editors
Dan Lear, Head of Advertising and Partnerships at Gravity Legal
Dan Lear is head of promoting and partnerships at Gravity Legal, an digital funds and cash administration agency constructed particularly for attorneys and regulation companies. Previous to Gravity Authorized, Dan labored as director of business relations for the authorized market Avvo and, earlier than that, as a expertise legal professional. He’s primarily based in Seattle, Wash.
Two essential, and associated, issues occurred to me within the spring of 2013. First, I joined Twitter. I gave an entire presentation to the Massachusetts LOMAP on Twitter and its impact on my career a number of years again. So, go verify that out should you’re curious. The second, associated, and extra essential factor occurred a number of brief weeks later.
Grinding away as a annoyed hourly desk-jockey lawyer the morning of March 13, 2013, I stumbled throughout the stay Twitter feed of the ReInvent Regulation Silicon Valley occasion. This discovery was nothing in need of a revelation. Regardless of the mountain of hours that I knew I needed to invoice that day, I couldn’t tear myself away. The occasion was stuffed with authorized professionals — lots of them attorneys like me: Ed Walters, Chas Rampenthal, Nicole Auerbach — difficult every little thing from the billable hour, to possession of the regulation, to what attorneys may be taught from retail. I used to be so impressed I wrote a piece for my bar association, exhorting my fellow attorneys to concentrate to the messages from ReInvent Regulation.
At present, I can draw a virtually unbroken line from that spring morning by means of later talking on the ReInvent Regulation New York occasion in 2014, to my previous work at Avvo, to my present skilled endeavors at Gravity Legal and Off The Record. That journey’s too lengthy, and doubtless too boring, for this fast piece so for now, I need to shout out ReInvent Regulation organizers Dan Katz and Renee Knake Jefferson. Absolutely, authorized expertise and innovation existed earlier than ReInvent Regulation however, for me, all of it started one morning 10 years in the past when selected to I ignore my billable hour requirement and tune in to Dan and Renee’s ReInvent Regulation revolution.
R. Amani Smathers, Sr. Apply Improvements Analyst, Chapman and Cutler LLP
Amani is a senior authorized options skilled with expertise serving to authorized groups discover higher and sooner methods to perform their authorized work, operational duties, and objectives. Since being an early participant within the ReInvent Regulation program at MSU Regulation, she has develop into a part of a world community of pros desirous about rethinking the way in which we ship authorized companies, with a thoughts in the direction of steady enchancment and entry to justice.
After learning with Dan Katz and Renee Newman Knake at MSU Regulation, Amani has gone on to work with a number of the main innovation groups in giant U.S. regulation companies, together with SeyfarthLean at Seyfarth Shaw, De Novo at Davis Wright Tremaine, and Apply Improvements at Chapman and Cutler. She enjoys her work designing and implementing authorized and enterprise options for the agency and its purchasers, and pays ahead the teachings discovered from ReInvent Regulation as an adjunct teacher with MSU Regulation’s present Middle for Regulation, Know-how & Innovation (CLT&I).
It’s tough to overstate ReInvent Regulation’s affect on my profession. As a regulation pupil and up to date graduate of MSU Regulation, I helped Dan and Renee (then affiliate professors) manage the ReInvent Regulation conferences, together with Silicon Valley 2013. The teachings I discovered from Dan and Renee, and the neighborhood that ReInvent Regulation helped type, have formed my view of the authorized business and my profession.
Under are values I discovered then and maintain true immediately:
- Regulation + Know-how + Design + Supply. Dan and Renee’s 4 pillars of ReInvent Regulation instilled in me the significance of incorporating disciplines past conventional lawyering to modernize and enhance authorized service supply for purchasers and suppliers. This concept additionally impressed my T-Formed Lawyer presentation at ReInvent Regulation NYC 2014, an idea that’s nonetheless mentioned immediately. Additionally, “Human + Machine > Human or Machine.” This mantra from Dan will without end information me to view expertise as a device, relatively than an finish aim.
- Presentation issues. Dan and Renee understood the significance of excessive manufacturing worth to create pleasure and elevate content material. Additionally, consideration spans are brief. Transient shows allowed us to share the utmost variety of presenters and concepts with the viewers, and spark curiosity for additional conversations.
- Sharing info accelerates innovation. Dan’s insistence on not solely offering a free convention but additionally paying to file the shows and share them on-line (made doable by a grant from the Kauffman Basis) means that there’s a treasure trove of information and insights nonetheless obtainable from the Reinvent Regulation occasions. I proceed to return to a number of the movies for inspiration, years later.
- There’s energy in networks. Sharing info can be a approach to construct neighborhood. Dan and Renee inspired college students to construct private manufacturers and community with the skilled neighborhood, as a approach to discover alternatives that in any other case won’t exist. By means of communications with our audio system and conversations on the occasions, I made significant connections with GCs, authorized firm CEOs, tech founders, regulation agency leaders, and visionaries – that I probably couldn’t have made as a regulation pupil some other means.
- We must always try for significant and fulfilling careers. Serving to college students discover fulfilling careers in regulation was considered one of Renee’s stated goals in co-founding ReInvent Regulation. Wanting again, I really feel so lucky to have had a regulation professor who talked about well-being and about alternatives for private success past the standard lawyer paths—uncommon matters in regulation faculties. This worth continues to assist orient me in fascinated by what I need out of life and work.
- Regulation professors ought to concentrate on scholarship and serving to their college students succeed. Dan and Renee are each unbelievable students and “doers” of their areas of focus. And, fairly uniquely, additionally they seen their college students’ success as a measure of their success as professors. One of many methods this manifested was that they reserved slots in every packed convention agenda for shows by college students that we pitched and improved with them (which itself was helpful). They gave us a platform to share concepts and place us as already-peers of the professionals within the room.
- The roles you’ll have sometime might not exist but. ReInvent Regulation conferences had been stuffed with presenters forging new paths within the authorized sphere. Dan additionally pressured to ReInvent Regulation college students the significance of steady studying, particularly because of the fee of change in expertise. I’m at all times subtly reminded of that lesson in his trademark parting message of “Extra to return.”
The ReInvent Regulation occasions offered free information sharing and a gathering place for the authorized innovation neighborhood. I respect all of the tribute messages shared on this article. Individually, I need to particularly thank Dan and Renee for the lifelong classes and for uplifting us (college students and convention attendees) to make connections and forge fulfilling careers in fashionable authorized service supply.
Andy Ninh, Director, Options, at Elevate
Andy is the director, options at Elevate, enabling its prospects to resolve their authorized and enterprise challenges by leveraging progressive applied sciences and operational enhancements. Following his involvement in ReInvent Regulation, Andy developed a eager understanding of the evolving authorized panorama and the function that expertise performs in reworking the supply of authorized companies, having acquired a novel mix of “T-Formed Lawyer” expertise by means of invaluable experiences in start-up and regulation division/agency/firm operations, design, AI/ML, expertise improvement and product administration, options architecting, buyer success, and Go-To-Market technique. Earlier than becoming a member of Elevate, he was lucky to have a number of “new regulation” and hybrid authorized roles, together with a Authorized Enterprise Options guide at UnitedLex, and a Authorized Options Architect at Seyfarth. Andy is a member of the New York Bar and earned his JD from Michigan State College Faculty of Regulation and his BS in Biochemistry from The College of Florida. Andy requested ChatGPT to put in writing the preliminary draft of this bio, and it was intriguingly correct. Thrilling occasions!
It’s exhausting to consider that it has been 10 years since I had the life-changing luck to attend and converse on the 2013 ReInvent Regulation Silicon Valley convention. Wanting again on this expertise, I notice how a lot this cast my profession path and private ambition. I’ve since had the pleasure of befriending or working with a number of convention audio system/attendees and people who joined this house due to them.
As a 2L regulation pupil at Michigan State Faculty of Regulation on the time, I had concluded my Entrepreneurial Lawyering class, co-taught by professors Renee Knake Jefferson and Daniel Martin Katz, by successful the “Most Inventive Pitch” award in our startup pitch competitors for offering on-demand authorized companies utilizing augmented actuality (AR) expertise. I vividly bear in mind the spark of inspiration I obtained after I first noticed an idea video for Google Glass, a really early AR headset, exhibiting what it could be like to make use of an AR headset “One Day.” I believed if you may get real-time visible instructions and location-based social media updates, you can certainly get AR-based authorized steering (e.g., jaywalking violations enforced on ABC Road) or on-demand authorized recommendation (e.g., what to do/not do throughout a site visitors cease, and so forth.). With this, Renee, Dan, and Michael Bommarito (additionally instrumental in beginning ReInvent Regulation) invited me to talk on the convention. I shortly modified my spring break plans and booked last-minute journey and lodging for the convention, and it was the most effective choices I’ve ever made.
Being a long-time tech fanatic, I used to be enamored by Silicon Valley, from the luxurious boutique resorts and Large Tech and startup logos lining the workplace buildings to the laidback hustle tradition and early-model Tesla EVs roaming the streets. On convention day, I used to be nervous about talking on stage in entrance of a big crowd however excited by the networking expertise and power that crammed the auditorium. As a pupil, I used to be a bit starstruck by the gifted speaker pool and the businesses/companies they labored at (or based). I used to be significantly excited that David Estrada, then Authorized Director at Google X Labs (the very place Google Glass was being developed), was talking. Upon sharing this with Renee, she promptly launched us, and I’ll always remember what occurred after I shared my elevator pitch with David. He requested, “so, do you need to go attempt it within the lab?”
Going by means of the key entrance of the bat cave lab on Google’s campus and getting a primary take a look at the place the magic was taking place, I noticed how surreal this was. Google Glass was not but obtainable to the general public, and sure nobody outdoors of Google had seen, not to mention touched, it earlier than. For somebody outdoors of the corporate, this felt like a once-in-a-lifetime alternative. Whereas I can’t say exactly what I noticed inside, it’s public information that Google X was engaged on Google Glass and self-driving automobiles (the premise of David’s presentation), and there have been some really unbelievable improvements. Getting hands-on with the Google Glass prototype, I may instantly discern its potentialities (and limitations).
Energized by this unbelievable expertise, I returned and took the stage with new confidence. It was really exceptional to not solely current forward-thinking concepts to the viewers but additionally to consider that they may materialize, having used the identical gadget I used to be hypothesizing about earlier than its public launch. You in all probability won’t bear in mind precisely what I talked about, however you’ll undoubtedly recall my dazzling teal chino pants, a sartorial alternative I nonetheless second-guess. I imply, who wears bright-colored pants to a authorized tech occasion? This man, apparently! I suppose this was not sufficient to forestall me from being invited again to current on the 2014 ReInvent Regulation New York convention with a refined and developed presentation whereas donning Google Glass on stage as an early adopter.
I discovered a number of issues as a Glass Explorer:
- It’s awkward to put on an AR headset in public when a number of individuals suppose you might be recording them (false impression);
- The world was not prepared to simply accept this sort of expertise, a minimum of outdoors of particular industries;
- There may be a lot potential which will go unfulfilled with this expertise (or it’s going to take a very long time to return to fruition); and
- Those that push the boundaries stretch the probabilities, and I consider we are going to proceed to see new expertise improvements that form our business (I’m significantly bullish on generative AI and ChatGPT).
I need to thank Renee, Dan, and Michael for extending the chance to be part of ReInvent Regulation and guiding me down this “New Regulation / Authorized Innovation” profession path, which I’m nonetheless touring. This allowed me to encourage others to take part on this house, create new roles inside our business that weren’t obtainable after I was a regulation pupil, and create lifelong friendships and a unbelievable skilled community. Plus, I acquired to staff up with Dan and Mike at Elevate following its LexPredict acquisition, an unforgettable expertise. I’m past fortunate to proceed working with a number of forward-thinking trailblazers in our business, like my rockstar colleague Nicole Auerbach (who can be contributing to this piece) and plenty of different sensible people I can’t name-drop proper now. None of this might have been doable with out ReInvent Regulation, and I’m without end grateful.
Look ahead to half two of our remembrances tomorrow.