Lourdes F. delivered a lecture to the students of Law Firm Management at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. The topic was legal innovation, but much of the discussion during the two-hour session centered on COVID-19 and its current impact on the legal industry, as well as its potential effects on the next generation of lawyers.
The focus was not on the negative aspects but rather on the unique opportunity this situation presents to reassess and reinvent legal services delivery, and even law practice itself. The "medicine" of innovation — through people, processes, and technology — can provide the legal industry with the necessary boost to recover from a legal recession stronger than ever, fostering a new understanding of the ethics of innovation and how to deliver value to clients.
The lecture also covered the theory of innovation and how new law graduates could benefit from starting their careers with law firms and organizations that lean towards the left side of Rogers' Diffusion Curve. If that is not the case, it becomes their responsibility to drive change management or make a strategic pivot.