Page 23 - CCCA Magazine. Winter 2018

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If you had $1 million to use on an idea,
what would you do? How about just $5
instead? These were the questions facing
in-house lawyers and support staff from
Siemens Canada in their frst legal de-
sign workshop. The goal was to fgure out
“ hen I worked in private practice, how to improve the legal department’s Her experience as Vice-President,
it was rare for me to encounter process management system. After a Business Development and Cor-
Wa lawyer that had a consistent porate Affairs for Universal Music
out-of-the-box way of thinking,” says half-day session flled with discussion Group gave her insight into how dis-
Shawna-Leigh Moulton, Director, and brainstorming in groups, lawyers and ruption works.
Governance and Legal Operations at staff came up with more than 150 ideas. “People looking to understand
Siemens Canada. “When lawyers see disruption look at the music busi-
problems, they want immediate so- ness,” says Tonelli, now Partner and
lutions. How did the problem arise? Founder of Inter Alia Law. “How-
Can we fx the problem at the forefront? Lawyers tend to always ever, it was copyright that provided the protection to the music
want a perfect solution too. In legal design, you learn that solu- industry that allowed them to navigate that disruption. For ex-
tions can evolve and change to suit other scenarios.” ample, copyright means they come out okay because they have
Legal design thinking is the blueprint for innovation. The exclusive rights to U2’s catalogue. We in the legal industry do
process involves taking a more holistic approach and focuses on not have that protection. We don’t own anything. So we have to
why problems arise as opposed to simply focusing on solutions. get serious about innovating and disrupting the parts of our job
The key to its success is giving lawyers the freedom to explore that aren’t necessary to doing great legal work.”
new possibilities in a healthy, facilitative environment, and try- After a successful career as in-house counsel, Tonelli decid-
ing out something new with the understanding that failure is ed to try something new. She founded Inter Alia Law, where
part of the process. If lawyers can embrace legal design think- her team works as in-house counsel for companies in the en-
ing, there’s an opportunity for legal departments to operate tertainment business.
more effciently, effectively and with less cost. “There are obstacles,” says Tonelli. “First, lawyers have inter-
Nowadays when people think of legal design, the frst im- nal resistance that says nothing can happen without their re-
age that might come to mind is drawings explaining access to view. That’s not true. I help clients by showing them how work-
justice ideas or visual contracts. But legal design involves more fows can deal with review of simple agreements like NDAs. We
than visuals. Human-centred legal design focuses on under- start small to build comfort with this idea. Second, lawyers are
standing the human needs of users with the goal of enhancing afraid that streamlining processes will diminish their impor-
current processes. tance. Also not true. Streamlining makes it possible for lawyers
Legal design thinking can have a tremendous effect on legal to provide work the company thinks is valuable rather than
departments. Darlene Tonelli has seen the changes frsthand. drowning in volume!”

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