Legal Design Lawyering: Rebooting Legal Business Model with Design Thinking

Abstract

This paper was written with the objective of being a launching pad to what we believe is an original legal practice framework. It focuses on giving lawyers a competitive edge in the evolving economy and puts forth a framework for a new legal business model, 'Legal Design Lawyering', a potentially ground-breaking way of practicing law. It is a problem-solving competency based on design thinking dynamics involving various cognitive styles, assessment of concrete and abstract realities, and embracing visions of the past, present, and future potential. At the heart of this evolution of lawyering practices a reassessment of ways of being (mindset), reasoning (thinking), and doing (methods) problem-solving to the benefit of clients can be found. Legal designers redefine winning by a re-evaluation of value and predictability. Interdependence value and identity-based trust are now taken into account in addition to traditional instrumental estimates.

Keywords: Legal Design, Legal Design Lawyering, Design Thinking