Meta-Lex is a curated list maintained by the Liquid Legal Institute. Its modest goal is to help all people who are interested in the transformation / innovation of the legal profession and industry, regardless of stage on their journey: beginners, more advanced innovators, professionals, researchers.
With your suggestions and content contributions, Meta-Lex will become the premier global reference hub for the legal trans(formation)-curious.
Find more information at the LLI project webpage on Meta-Lex: The Ultimate Legal Transformation Resource Library.
Please read the contribution guidelines before contributing. Please add a resource by raising a pull request. We also solicit discussion and proposal of new ideas (including additional content sections) as issues. While Meta-Lex's preferred style convention should be evident from the existing entries, the contribution guidelines include Meta-Lex's preferred Architecture and Style Sheet.
- Introduction to Legal Transformation - A Profession and Industry in Need of Change
- Legal Business Development
- Humanization, Diversity and Well-being
- Legal Design and Innovation
- Legal Operations - General
- Project Management and Strategic Planning
- Legal KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and Metrics
- Legal Processes and Workflows
- Knowledge and Document Management
- Artificial Intelligence and Legal Text Analytics
- Computational Law, Law as Neural Network, Blockchain / DLL and Smart(er) Contracts
- Web 3.0 / Metaverse and other Emerging Technologies
- [Additional categories to add: vendor / provider / solutions / job search sites (cross-link to Legal Tech Hub); educational and training programs - CLPs, Centres on Law & Technology, etc.] [insert link]
- Credits
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Book: Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future, 2nd ed. (Prof. Richard Susskind, OBE FRSE RSA (Oxford, Strathclyde, Gresham), Oxford Univ. Press, 2016). Prof. Susskind is IT Advisor to Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales, President of the Society of Computers & Law and the leading, most cited commentator on future of legal profession. Very powerful, easy to read critique of traditional law firm, law school and bar association orthodoxy in US and UK. Applicable to other legal systems and cultures; widely translated. Iconoclastic, thought-provoking, yet hopeful.
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Book: The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the World of Human Experts. (Profs. Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind, Oxford Univ. Press, 2016; updated ed. April 2022). Exactly as the title says; highly acclaimed work. Slower, harder read than Tomorrow’s Lawyers, but time well spent. 2022 edition is updated for changes over past 6 years, included as accelerated by Covid. Tip: If you have read the original edition, purchase the Kindle version (USD7.99) for the outstanding 2002 update.
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Book (Compendium): Liquid Legal: Transforming Legal into a Business Savvy, Information Enabled and Performance Driven Industry (Kai Jacob, Dierk Schindler, Roger Strathausen, eds., Springer 2017). Numerous foundational essays; very forward thinking.
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Book (Compendium): Liquid Legal: Towards a Common Legal Platform (Kai Jacob, Dierk Schindler, Roger Strathausen, eds., Springer 2020). From Richard Susskind’s foreword: “A strikingly diverse collection … something for everyone in the law …” Coherently tied together by the authors, with a “running and important theme – the idea of designing and building a common legal platform, a shared resource that could help avoid the reinvention of the wheel that takes place globally at a regrettable scale.”
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Book (Compendium): Legal Informatics (Daniel Katz, Ron Dolin, Michael Bommarito, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, 2021). A first-of kind overview of legal informatics - the academic discipline underlying the technological transformation and the economic underpinnings of the legal industry. Over two dozen essays and with real-life case studies. Approachable by non-technical readers. Richard Susskind called it a “treasure trove” and the “definitive text” for legal informatics. Prof. David Wilkins (Harvard Law School CLP): “This is not just a book. It is a movement.”
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Book: Legal Upheaval - A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation in Law (Prof. Michele DeStefano, Am. Bar Assoc., 2008). [to complete]
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Book (Compendium): New Suits: Appetite for Disruption in the Legal World (Prof. Michele DeStefano and Dr. Günther Dobrauz, Stämpfli Verlag AG, Bern, 2019). Rich collection of essays by leading thinkers, including Prof. DeStefano (Univ. of Miami Law and Harvard Law adjunct) and Prof. David Wilkins (Harvard), Noah Waisberg (see his AI book below), the co-founders of the Bryter leading no-code automation tool, others [add]).
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Book: Successful Digital Transformation in Law Firms: A Question of Culture (Isabel Parker, Globe Law and Business, 2021). Well written, edited, laid out and documented by endnotes. Above all, is well supported on all key points by case studies and interviews from both within and outside legal practice. The author’s approach is fair and balanced; she recognizes both the undeniable strengths and current limitations of the traditional law firm model in today's rapidly transforming world. She offers several plausible paths that firms can take to rise to the challenge of putting client service first in today's digital world. All while being keenly realistic about the likely challenges to be faced and difficult choices to be made. The extensive treatment of law firm "purpose" and by extension, that of all legal professionals is singular and should inform all professionals as they adapt to the digital age. Many insights are also readily transferable to in-house with little or no adaptation, whether in informing transformation agendas or in selecting and instructing law firms.
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Book: Building an Outstanding Legal Team (Bjarne P. Tellmann, Globe Law and Business, 2017). [add description]
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Articles: “Don’t Let the Digital Tail Wag the Transformation Dog: A Digital Transformation Roadmap for Corporate Counsel” (Michele DeStefano, Bjarne P. Tellmann and Daniel Wu, 6 February 2022; last updated 23 May 2022, University of Miami Legal Studies Research Paper No 4021593). Soon to be published in the Journal of Business and Technology Law. The typical multinational corporation's internal legal department follows a Three-Phased Digital Maturity Framework. This has initial appeal, but the authors argue that it is suboptimal because it focuses more on technology at the expense of foundational, non-technology changes that are critical if the digital technology changes are to be successful and add full ROI. Their preferred approach focuses first on reviewing and optimizing the service delivery model and its related processes. With examples, they maintain that the most successful digital transformations have followed the latter approach. Nota Bene: An excellent précis to this 61 page article is Anusia Gillespie, “Q. What is digital transformation? A primer for legal professionals” (Legal Evolution, 2 March 2022).
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Article: In conversation with Thomas Barothy (Interview with Isabel Parker, Modern Lawyer, Globe Law and Business, April 2022). Insightful and inspiring interview with Thomas Barothy, the immediate past Global COO of the UBS Legal Department. Outlines the remarkable transformation progress achieved during his [five] year tenure, with valuable recommendations for other legal departments on this journey.
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Article: The (re)making of a modern lawyer – an in-house lawyer’s pandemic reinvention journey (Robert Dilworth, Modern Lawyer, Globe Law and Business, July 2022). A first-person storytelling account of corporate lawyer's road to Damascus journey during the Pandemic lockdowns towards radical acceptance that the profession and industry must urgently change in order to be fit for purpose in a digital age. Personal reflections, a renewed sense of personal purpose. Recommendations to individual lawyers sharing these inklings, but not knowing how to start, as well as to in-house legal departments and the law firms that serve them. [Note: update hyperlink in July.]
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Book: The Simple Guide to Legal Innovation: Basics Every Lawyer Should Know. (Lucy Bassli, Am. Bar Assoc., 2020). Primer; bite-sized lessons; relatively quick read; everything the title promises. Author was 13 yrs in Microsoft in-house legal. Spoiler alert: Innovation does not always require expensive shiny new toys. Innovation is something that we do and become, not purchase.
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Book: The Lawyer's Guide to Working Smarter With Knowledge Tools. (Marc Lauritsen, Am. Bar Assoc., 2010). A guide for lawyers and other professionals to practice systems, work product retrieval, document assemby and interactive checklists to help at all levels of legal practice. Highly readable. At the time. Richard Susskind considered it a "first-rate primer". Excellent organization and treatment of key knowledge tools. Includes an early treatment of AI and an Appendix with book review of the related literature at the time. Author is a legal innovator pioneer (mid-1980's), worked in this area for 13 yrs at Harvard Law School, President of Capstone Practice Systems, a lecturer at Suffolk University Law School in Boston and a contributor to Legal Evolution. Tip: Amazon Kindle and LexisNexis e-book price is strangely >USD75; used paperback edition is <USD10.
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Book (Compendium): Liquid Legal: Humanization & the Law - A Call to Action in the Digital Age (Kai Jacob, Dierk Schindler, Roger Strathausen, eds.), Springer, expected Sept. 2022). [Insert description; same editors as LL1 and LL2?]
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Papers: LLI Lawyer Well-Being Project - The Silent Pandemic (Call to Action and Survey Results); Whitepaper: Lawyer Well-Being | Personal Health of Legal Professionals in Times of Disruption. [Add: link to recording of 23 June 2022 Liquid Experience call; LLI Awards?]
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Article: Humanizing the Legal Function- What it Means and Why It Matters (Mark A. Cohen, Forbes and Legal Mosaic, 15 Feb. 2022). A former prosecutor, litigator and law firm partner (now a consultant and co-founder / Executive Chairman of the Digital Legal Exchange mounts his case. Of particular note, the heading “We Have Forgotten What Law Is For”.
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Book: The Legal Design Book: Doing Law In The 21st Century / Das Legal Design Buch - So geht Recht im 21. Jahrhundert. Astrid Kohlmeier (LLI Co-founder and Board Member) and Meera Klemola, July 2021. Thought-provoking (very) primer on adapting and applying to legal services the human-centric design thinking ethos and process that are fundamental to so many industries, products and services. EN and DE (Wolters Kluwer) versions. E-book (EN) available (May 2022). Thoughtful reviews in Legal Business World and Design Research Society - News. Podcast interviews of the authors at The Geek in Review and Reinventing Professionals (Ari Kaplan.
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Podcast: The Legal Design Podcast [Add description of hosts Henna, Nina and this series; why do we recommend it?]
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Podcast: [add others based on Astrid and Karla's suggestions; add ones in which they have appeared]
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Book: The Simple Guide to Legal Innovation: Basics Every Lawyer Should Know. (Lucy Bassli, Am. Bar Assoc., 2020). Primer; bite-sized lessons; relatively quick read; everything the title promises. Author was 13 yrs in Microsoft in-house legal. Spoiler alert: Innovation does not always require expensive shiny new toys. Innovation is something that we do and become, not purchase.
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Book: The Lawyer's Guide to Working Smarter With Knowledge Tools. (Marc Lauritsen, Am. Bar Assoc., 2010). A guide for lawyers and other professionals to practice systems, work product retrieval, document assemby and interactive checklists to help at all levels of legal practice. Highly readable. At the time. Richard Susskind considered it a "first-rate primer". Excellent organization and treatment of key knowledge tools. Includes an early treatment of AI and an Appendix with book review of the related literature at the time. Author is a legal innovator pioneer (mid-1980's), worked in this area for 13 yrs at Harvard Law School, President of Capstone Practice Systems, a lecturer at Suffolk University Law School in Boston and a contributor to Legal Evolution. Tip: Amazon Kindle and LexisNexis e-book price is strangely >USD75; used paperback edition is <USD10.
- Directory: Liquid Legal Institute's Legal Text Analytics Open-Source Resources Page
- Book: AI For Lawyers: How Artificial Intelligence is Adding Value, Amplifying Expertise, and Transforming Careers. (Noah Waisberg, Alexander Hudek; Wiley 2021). A Wall Street Journal bestseller. Non-technical; approachable; quick easy read, by founders of Kira Systems; instant classic.
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Book (Compendium): Legal Informatics (Daniel Katz, Ron Dolin, Michael Bommarito, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, 2021). A first-of kind overview of legal informatics - the academic discipline underlying the technological transformation and the economic underpinnings of the legal industry. Over two dozen essays and with real-life case studies. Approachable by non-technical readers. Richard Susskind called it a “treasure trove” and the “definitive text” for legal informatics. Prof. David Wilkins (Harvard Law School CLP): “This is not just a book. It is a movement.”
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Book: Legal Data for Banking: Business Optimisation and Regulatory Compliance. (Akber Datoo, Wiley, 2019). Great primer. Datoo is a key adviser to ISDA, ISLA and the Law Society of England & Wales and founder of D2 Legal Technology, a consulting firm at the intersection of Reg Tech and FinTech. Main theme is that since the 2008-9 financial crisis, legal data is at the heart of post-2009 regulatory reform. Complying with the increased regulation involves enormous new amount of data; coping with this volume and using it in meaningful ways require new ways of thinking and doing, including at a contractual level. “Legal Data Management” means change, both by institutions and lawyers in how they think and work. The author shows the way, which is gaining traction in several key banking and financial services sectors.
[Additional categories to add: vendor / provider / solutions / job search sites (cross-link to Legal Tech Hub); educational and training programs - CLPs, Centres on Law & Technology, etc.]
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