continuing legal education through self-study
When it comes to continuing legal education (CLE), most of us think in the very black and white terms of meeting our state’s mandate. But, my thinking has been colorized a bit by the convergence of three forces:
- A Ms. JD post on extending legal education
- Recent coverage of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s new ACC Value Index (allowing/encouraging its members to "share ratings of law firms based on client satisfaction")
- Dispute resolution expert Diane Levin’s compelling look at self-awareness.
As I’ve been exploring here for a while, the recession-driven shake-up - along with other changes in the legal profession and larger cultural shifts - have created an unprecedented opportunity for us to remake our legal services. The first step in this redesign process is to set our foundation. This is a composite of our own interests, skills and strengths and the interests, needs and concerns of the people we want to help.
Establishing this base involves a good amount of self-study. Beyond spending time in self-reflection, we can gather input from trusted colleagues and friends. We can also tap the wisdom of experts and influencers outside the legal profession (here a list to source courtesy of Inc.). For example, Seth Godin offers these insightful posts:
We can also gain some perspective from this Fast Company article on redesigning the worst NFL helmet graphics and this NYT piece on reinventing America's cities.
Arnie, thanks kindly for the mention in this post - and also for steering me toward some terrific articles as well.
Cheers,
Diane