Innovation is a word that is everywhere. Innovate this, innovate that, innovation will make you rich, innovation is the present and the future, etc. In the legal world, this incessant use of the word has become a way for some legal startups and law firms alike to market themselves and try to make the case for being forward-thinking. Books about innovation also tend to reflect this trend. There are, however, a few that do not fall into this category. One of them is the book Legally Innovative: How to Maximize Your W. O. W.
As I and others have noted, clients are demanding lower costs, better outcomes, and more transparency from the legal industry. Clients are also demanding more holistic business-minded solutions to their problems. This requires that lawyers adapt, which is something lawyers, generally speaking, are simply not good at. This also has meant that lawyers must become more creative and start thinking about and implementing new ideas, new processes, and new solutions. This is not easy to do even for those who are more prone to being creative. For lawyers, this is especially challenging since we have all been taught to think a certain way, write a certain way, and behave a certain way. This challenge increases given that the changes impacting the legal profession have demanded that we lawyers learn new skills, acquire new knowledge, and put both to use right away. This is where innovation comes into play.
Legally Innovative is not your typical book about innovation. It is not filled with anecdotal evidence of the power of innovation or marketing hype. It is more like an extended and encouraging invitation to join its author, Anna Lozynski on a journey to learn about innovation and apply the lessons that are learned to innovate together. It helps that the advice that she provides is practical, useful, and easily followed. Of particular note is her emphasis on the power of positivity and using the power of networking to learn, to share, and to collaborate. Having become something of a networking machine myself (and coming a long way from a time when I used to somewhat loathe networking), I can say that networking is a powerful tool and one we all should be using to our advantage. I have learned that people enjoy speaking about things that they are passionate about. All it takes is a simple hello and asking them to tell you about what they have done and/or what they currently do. Speaking to others about what they do may inspire you to do something new, open your eyes to a new way of thinking about an existing problem, or both. How great is that? I would say pretty great indeed.
In a world that is constantly changing and with so much information at our fingertips, having a guide to navigate our way through this world is invaluable. When it comes to innovating within the legal space, Legally Innovative is a great guide. Anna writes with a clear purpose and style and speaks from experience. She also manages to write in a way that gets you excited. I love books and reading, but admittedly there have been some books that I have been let down by either due to their inadequate content, the prose style of its author, or for some other reason. Rest assuredly this book will not disappoint anyone wanting to get a plethora of insights into innovating the law. My only gripe is that the book, being an e-book, is formatted somewhat awkwardly through the Issuu publishing platform. It may be fine for some, but I found zooming and reading to be somewhat of a fussy exercise.
Anna is insightful, energetic, and a leader. I highly recommend that you consider adding this book to your collection and read it. Then, and perhaps most importantly, share your thoughts with others and let others benefit from what you have learned and benefited from yourself. The legal world needs more folks like Anna. Anna does her part to help advance the profession throughout her career and through this book. Now it is time to do yours.