Legal industry leaders Brad S. Karp, Chair of Paul, Weiss, and Jami McKeon, Chair of Morgan Lewis, share insights from their impressive careers as long-time leaders of their respective firms and in the broader profession. From making tough decisions on controversial topics of the day to assessing how Generative AI will impact the industry's future, our guests peel back the curtain to reveal how leaders of successful firms build on their strengths to shape the future of practice.

Structural barriers to change may represent the biggest enemy to innovation, access to justice, and a coherent system of lawyer formation. From regulations that define what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law to the often-undervalued role state supreme courts play in reimagining the future of lawyer licensure, our guests Jordan Furlong of Law21 and James J. Sandman of Penn Carey Law have been at the forefront of these discussions, and share their insightful and inspiring vision for the future. Hear from these experts about how to better align legal education with lawyer regulation, how other countries’ approaches to legal services offer inspiration for the American legal services industry, and why they are optimistic about the future of law.

The history of lawyer formation has given rise to an educational structure that intentionally separates learning from practice, making it challenging to adapt to the modern pace of changing conditions. The arrival of next-generation technologies begs the question: How do we rapidly reimagine the future of associate development to ensure that legal educators and legal employers co-design a scaffolded and coherent approach to setting new lawyers up to succeed while delivering value to clients? Our guests, Alice Armitage of UC Law SF and Heidi K. Brown of New York Law School, have spent their careers infusing law school curricula with the mindsets and skills a rapidly changing world requires and law students and new lawyers deserve, and are uniquely skilled in matters ranging from design thinking to prompt engineering.  

The legal landscape around diversity, equity, and inclusion has shifted significantly in the wake of several significant judicial opinions. While the legal profession has been notoriously slow to make progress in its efforts to nurture more inclusive practice environments, our guests share their unwavering optimism about the advancement of inclusion in the profession. They delve into the data that demonstrate the importance of equity to various stakeholders in the corporate legal services market, and also discuss why mentorship is so essential in driving change from within. Join guests Shelley Smith of Archer & Greiner, P.C., and Caren Stacy of Diversity Lab as we push past the headlines and explore the roles of creativity, innovation, and relentless advocacy in shaping a more equitable future for law.

The capabilities of generative artificial intelligence — reading, summarizing, analyzing, organizing, and producing draft documents — align with the very tasks law students and junior lawyers learn in the early years of practice. So how can we reimagine lawyer formation to harness AI’s efficiencies while also ensuring the full development of a lawyer's mind? Guests Ben Barton of the University of Tennessee College of Law and Cat Moon of Vanderbilt University Law School share their thoughts and offer examples of innovative practices that they are developing in their work

The last few years have marked a sea change in the way the profession thinks about mental health and attorney well-being. Paula Davis of the Stress & Resilience Institute and Shailini George of Suffolk University Law School join us to discuss the science underlying team well-being and how to support lawyers in elevating their health, beginning in the early days of law school.

How in the world can today's legal leaders tackle the complexity of creating a vision to guide four different generations simultaneously? Join our guest experts Diana Cortes of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Jessie Spressart of Optia Consulting as we explore frameworks for organizing intergenerational conversations, describe the experience of leading large legal teams during the chaotic days of the last few years, consider what it means to "pay your dues" and how each generation can learn from the contributions of others, and how the future of this volatile world of life and practice will continue to challenge and create untold opportunities for living healthier lives while serving clients at the highest level.

In this episode, guest experts David Curran of Paul, Weiss and Lisa M. Fairfax of The Institute for Law & Economics at Penn Carey Law discuss ESG initiatives in the legal sector: What does ESG mean; how are corporations aligning governance to ensure the fulfillment of public commitments on social and environmental issues; how are law firms developing practices that support these efforts; and what does ESG mean in the legal profession?

Dive into this fast-paced conversation with Ilona Logvinova, formerly of McKinsey & Co., and Darth Vaughn of Ford Motor Co., about how generative AI is poised to impact the relationship between corporate counsel and law firms. Learn about how corporate legal departments are leading the way in leveraging technology so lawyers can focus on the most strategic elements of legal counseling and how law firms can serve as critical thought partners in designing the future of corporate legal services.

Drawing on the combined expertise of two knowledgeable industry analysts, ALM’s Patrick Fuller and Heather Nevitt, this session explores the evolving relationship between corporate counsel and the law firms that serve them. With an emphasis on client expectations, revenue trends, and the role of emerging technologies, this episode's guest experts highlight the most important trends impacting the corporate legal services sector.

Explore the intersection of generative AI and access to justice with two trailblazers in the legal profession, the Hon. Bridget Mary McCormack, President and CEO of the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution, and Andrew Perlman, Dean of Suffolk University Law School. With their perspectives from the helm of a law school leading in innovative approaches to legal education and the top role of the world's largest provider of alternative dispute resolution, these experts discuss how both traditional AI and generative AI have the potential to combat the U.S. civil justice crisis.