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The Diogenes of the Legal Profession
Remember the story of Diogenes, who roamed ancient Greece with a lantern in search of an honest man? Well, meet the Diogenes of the legal profession: J. Kim Wright. In place of a lantern, she has a video camera, and with it, she is touring the country in search of innovative lawyers. She calls it the New Lawyer Tour, and it is part of a more ambitious project,
CuttingEdgeLaw.com, which she envisions as "a movement, a magazine, a community."
The innovators Wright seeks stand on a very particular cutting edge -- that of helping to move law towards a more holistic, humanistic model. They are the lawyers who are blazing trails towards collaborative law, restorative justice and other alternative ways to resolve conflicts and solve problems. Accompanied by a videographer, Wright is traveling to various cities, interviewing these "pioneers in peacemaking and champions of justice." She has already posted more than a dozen of her interviews on YouTube. Eventually, the interviews will become part of the larger site, which Wright describes as the hub of a community built around this more collaborative approach to law.
CuttingEdgeLaw.com provides a community gathering place for sharing experiences, ideas, and concepts that are arising within a movement in the law. It responds to the urgent need to report on these positive innovations in law. On our pages, lawyers who are pioneers know that they are not alone, that others are hearing the call to positive action and using their legal training to make the world a better place. They're expanding the time-revered roles of lawyers in creative and non-traditional ways that are more satisfying and contribute to making a difference in the world -- while improving career satisfaction and life balance. Our content will educate mainstream lawyers about new concepts. It will give much-deserved attention to the pioneers in the movement. It will share tools to more fully integrate transformative and comprehensive law concepts into day to day legal practice. It will provide the space for critical examination of the issues confronting the lawyers who are stepping out and trying the new approaches, a community where ideas can be discussed and methods explored.
Wright describes herself as a part-time lawyer in North Carolina and a "pioneer in the field of law as a healing profession." She was the founder of the Renaissance Lawyer Society, which supports "legal transformation and innovation," and is a speaker, writer and coach on the practice of collaborative law.
[Dual thanks to Diane Levin and Stephanie West Allen for pointing me to this.]
Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on July 24, 2008 at 12:39 PM | Permalink
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