Submitted by Carolyn Elefant:
Innovation within any big establishment is tough, even more so at big law firms where fealty to tradition, the “lock step monster” syndrome and aversion to technology pose enormous obstacles to change. In this talk, I’ll discuss how outsourcing innovation can help large firms cultivate new ways of doing business with minimal risk while at the same time, offering enormous opportunities to savvy solos and displaced junior associates. And as an analogy, I’ll focus on the example of the legendary Tommy Supreme – aka Tom Goldstein – who started a Supreme Court litigation practice by ambulance chasing cases and by leveraging 21st century trends (technology, freemium, bootstrapping), developed the expertise and business model for Supreme Court litigation that was eventually acquired by a mega-law firm.