Two years ago, James Sandman, president of the Legal Services Corporation, urged that one way to accelerate technology adoption in the legal industry would be to assess and rank law firms based on their use of technology. Last year, Daniel W. Linna Jr., then director of L LegalRND: The Center for Legal Services Innovation at Michigan State University College of Law, decided to tackle that project.

One year ago, Linna launched the Legal Services Innovation Index, a project to create an index of innovation in the delivery of legal services. It launched with two parts: a catalog of law firm innovations and a law firm innovation index. A few months later, he launched the Law School Innovation Index, focused on how well law schools are preparing students to deliver legal services in the 21st Century.

In this episode of LawNext, Linna talks about what innovation looks like at law firms and law schools in practical terms. Now a visiting professor of law at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, Linna also discusses how he will teach his students about innovation and technology, and about the Innovation Lab he will help lead at Northwestern.

He is an affiliated faculty member of CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and cofounder of the Chicago Legal Innovation & Technology Group. He is a 2015 Fastcase 50 honoree, recognizing the law’s “smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, & leaders.”

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Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.