The first book of the #legaldesignbookclub focuses on the why.
There has been a lot of talk about the T-shaped lawyers, O-shaped lawyers, and the key skills that lawyers should master in the age of AI.
But what impact does it really have on our characters and our careers when we invite a new topic of interest into our lives?
Range by David Epstein
Lawyers tend to be hyperspecialised. As building yourself up as a capacity in your field takes a lot of time, we are told as early as law school: now is the time to choose one topic for the rest of your life, or you are going to fall behind.
Range by David Epstein paints a different picture, and gives hope to all those, who are prone to thinking broadly and widely. It was an immense help for me, when it helped me reframe my pivot from lawyer to a legal designer: I was not losing my specialisation, I was expanding my range.
But even if you are not interested in leaving your legal niche just yet, this book may give you some food for thought: every transaction attorney benefits from a broad understanding of other matters, such as tax, competition law, or financing. As a fierce tech litigator, it may be handy to learn to code to better understand your clients.
How to take part?
First step is getting the book. If you can, buy it secondhand (here (CZ/SK) it is available secondhand for someone lucky), borrow it from a library or support your little local bookstore.
I will be posting about my progress on my LinkedIn and share a review in a post here (the first one is here). I would like to invite you to write about your progress and your experiments, too – just don’t forget to use (and follow) the hashtag #legaldesignbookclub so that we can find you.
Final Provisions
This book is all about setting the scene for the deep dive into design, innovation, and tech that we are about to do in the upcoming months of the #legaldesignbookclub.
I am also just excited to read books with this community – so many of you are considering or navigating non-linear careers, so perhaps this perspective will be useful on your journey.
Have fun!
Baru
