Page 25 - CCCA Magazine. Winter 2018

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were pleased to have more than 80 lawyers participate and work
through the problem of creating better cross-functional groups.
“You have to be prepared to do something with the ideas
generated through a design thinking session,” says Alliston.
“When we frst started using it as an approach, we did not re-
dArlene TonellI ally appreciate how overwhelming it would be to review the
Partner and Founder of Inter Alia law new ideas and determine next steps. And we underestimated
the importance of doing that. We have since learned to manage
“There are obstacles. First, lawyers have internal resistance expectations of the participants, and communicate next steps
that says nothing can happen without their review. That’s not and follow-through.”
true. Second, lawyers are afraid that streamlining processes A key part of legal design thinking is implementation. Ideas
will diminish their importance. Also not true. Streamlining have to go beyond the brainstorming phase into implementa-
makes it possible for lawyers to provide work the company tion. Remember that ideas don’t have to be about the latest tech
thinks is valuable rather than drowning in volume!” trend. They can be simple.
“The ideas coming out of a design thinking session can vary
widely,” says Alliston. “One of my favourite ideas from our
cross-functional project session was to have stand-up meeting
What tools are out there that we can use across the board in our corners around the offce so people can have quick meetings.
different practice areas? This is our next challenge. Now we’re It’s simple and no tech and is a subtle way to address complaints
looking at what can be developed in-house. We have a great IT about too much time spent in meetings.”
resource. How can we utilize it to help us develop legal technolo- Even with successful workshops, the biggest test is failure.
gies that will create effciencies for us and the business?” Legal design thinking is based on the principle that failure is
a necessary part of the process. Not every idea will work and
finDing tHe rigHt faciLitator anyone using legal design thinking needs to be comfortable
with trial and error. The trick is not to avoid failure but to
One of the reasons the Siemens workshop was so successful was embrace it.
that they had the right facilitator. Moulton reached out to their “Andrea talked about the challenges lawyers have with ac-
external counsel, Andrea Alliston at Stikeman Elliott, to learn cepting failure, as it is not part of providing legal advice or client
more about legal design thinking. Through their conversations, service,” says Moulton. “‘FAIL’ means ‘First Attempt In Learn-
Alliston agreed to help them and facilitate the workshop. ing.’ I really liked hearing out loud that acknowledging failures
“Lawyers are perceived to be resistant to change and not in- could be seen in a positive light. She talked about technology-
novative, but I think that is an unfair and blunt generalization.” related pilots her frm had tried and the point at which they
says Alliston, Partner, Knowledge Management at Stikeman decided to pull the plug.”
Elliott. “Lawyers are intellectually curious and creative but are “Before you mention to your team about doing a legal design
often short on time. Design thinking provides that opportunity lab,” she adds, “you really should research it so you can sell it.
to be creative.” Help them understand the value in it.” ❚
Alliston was inspired by Stanford Law School’s Margaret
Hagan and other legal designers, and began to work with a team
to host a workshop. Expecting maybe 30 lawyers to attend, they Julie Sobowale is a writer and journalist based in Halifax.

LegaL Design resources

Here’s a quick guide on where to start for legal design thinking.

● Stanford law School legal design lab (www.legaltechdesign.com): The standard go-to website to
fnd out the latest news and projects in legal design.
● legal Problem Solving (www.legalproblemsolving.org): This website, which serves as a hub for the Legal
problem Solving Course at Vanderbilt Law School, has a great list of resources for design thinking.
● Coursera online class, “design Thinking for Innovation” (www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-design-
thinking-innovation): This course is a good beginner’s guide on design thinking.

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