I went to law school because I wanted to make a difference. Initially, I though I would focus on environmental issues, but through a variety of courses and internships, my focus shifted to economic inequality and access to justice. This new focus piqued my interest in how technology could expand access to legal services and led me to Michigan State University College of Law’s LegalRnD program. The program offers several courses, and as a 3L I took a course call Litigation: Data, Theory, Practice and Process, with Daniel W. Linna Jr. I had no idea what to expect, but I was excited for a hands on, practice focused class. I was not disappointed; Professor Linna introduced new concepts and challenged the traditional ideas about legal services throughout the class. We experimented with several process improvement techniques including Lean Six Sigma, Kanban Boards, design thinking, and process mapping as tools to solve for inefficiencies in legal processes. He challenged us to think about legal issues and client needs from a process point of view and was constantly asking how our proposed improvements would add value for clients. By understanding the process, we could remove most of the inefficiencies without technology and when we did employ technology, we had a crystal-clear understanding of why it was necessary and how it improved the process.
As part of the class we were asked to re-imagine a legal process and automate it using ThinkSmart’s (a legal software developer) legal workflow automation tool, TAP. I chose to create a new system for referring pro bono work to attorneys. I created an automated workflow that aggregated attorneys’ availability for pro bono work, areas of legal expertise, contact information, and location into a database that would be hosted by the State Bar Association. The rest of the process is automated with inputs from legal aid offices looking to refer clients out and attorneys in the State Bar database. ThinkSmart spotlighted the project on their blog in February.
I’ve carried many of the skills I learned in the Litigation course into my daily practice. I look forward to continuing to leverage process improvement and technology to deliver better services to our clients, create organizational documents that are legally sound and user friendly, and to evolve the practice of law for the 21st century.
