The Time Is Now To Support Real Innovation In Legal Education
The IFLP is in search of benefactors.
About 100 years ago, back in 2017, I wrote a post on the work of the then-nascent, Bill Henderson-led Institute for the Future of Law Practice titled, “Is It Time For A College of Legal Operations?” The answer then was “yes, obviously,” and today, our ongoing global crisis has, with a stark urgency, reinforced the need for genuine legal education innovation. In the words of Kevin Colangelo:
[W]e are in the midst of what many in legal agree is a brightline moment that will catalyze evolutionary activity in countless aspects of the profession–from how courts operate, to how machine learning is leveraged, to the economics of litigation, to ensuring that all are provided with competent, affordable access to the legal system, etc.
Doesn’t it feel like everything is on the table and the time is now?
The time is now for the IFLP project. IFLP is a nonprofit collaboration between law schools, law firms, corporate legal departments, NewLaw service providers, and legal technology companies. The goal is to create a talent pipeline that combines traditional training in substantive law with foundational training in data, process, technology, and business.
Since the organization’s founding, more than 600 students from dozens of law schools have applied to the program, with more than 100 practitioners volunteering their time. Fifty-four employers hired IFLP interns. As Henderson puts it, “IFLP’s market acceptance speaks for itself.” Now, IFLP is seeking financial support to enable its build of IFLP Level I training module, including a certification examination. This module will be approximately eight hours of high-quality asynchronous online instruction designed to provide legal professionals with foundational training in five “top-of-the-T” disciplines: (i) business & finance, (ii) data analytics, (iii) process optimization, (iv) legal technology, and (v) product/service design.
The goal is to raise, by June 15, a minimum of $500,000 through a grant, donation(s), or a loan. For full details on IFLP’s plans, see this post by Henderson. In Bill’s words:
If just a few hundred of us stand up and support IFLP, we’ll have a solution for the next generation (and perhaps for us) that just might work. In the meantime, we can share the joy of living our professional values.
How you can help
- If you personally have the capacity, affinity, and propensity to help fund the IFLP build, please email Bill Henderson.
- If you know someone one with the capacity, affinity, and propensity to help, please forward this post.
- Donate any amount you can afford. (All contributions are tax-deductible.)
