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Innovation Clearinghouses
Bar associations can publicize information about impactful and replicable innovations.
The ABA’s new Center for Innovation, established in September 2016,1 is about to launch an
Innovation Clearinghouse that will spotlight new approaches to the delivery of legal services in a
wide range of areas, such as court innovations, legal technology, in-house legal departments, and
legal aid.2 These kinds of efforts can shed an important light on valuable projects and
demonstrate the role of bar associations in disseminating knowledge about critical legal services
innovations.
Special Events
Bars can develop special events and programs to help spread the word about innovative
tools and policy changes. The ABA Center for Innovation recently teamed with the National
Conference of Bar Presidents on a program that helped lawyers, judges, and the public learn
more about the significant problems associated with court-imposed fines and fees as well as the
innovative solutions that have been developed to address those problems.3 The Center also
organized an Innovation Spotlight event, consisting of 10 speakers from different parts of the
legal industry who delivered short presentations on their impactful solutions to pressing legal
services needs. Numerous similar programs are hosted or sponsored by bar associations every
year, and those events can help members and the public learn about critical problems and
innovative solutions.
Fellows Programs
The ABA Center for Innovation has developed two types of fellows programs to help the
profession and individual members respond to new realities. NextGen Fellows are relatively
recent law school graduates who spend a year at the Center, receive a salary, learn about
innovative approaches to legal services delivery, and advance a project designed to address a
critical legal services delivery problem.
Innovation Fellows are seasoned professionals who spend more limited time at the Center
to work on a discrete project. These professionals often lack the time and resources needed to
innovate, and a two- to three-month fellowship provides them with what they need to bring their
ideas to full potential. For instance, the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Supreme Court,
and North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts joined together to sponsor an Innovation
Fellow to come to the Center for training and to assist with efforts to establish a Center for
Innovation in North Carolina.
In each case, the Center matches fellows with available resources within and outside the
ABA to help the fellows appropriately plan and develop impactful projects.4 Moreover, each
fellow participates in a boot camp that involves training in the people, process, and technology
skills that are needed to transform the delivery of legal services. The Center expects to make the
boot camp more widely available in the coming months.
1 ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, www.abacenterforinnovation.org.
2 Innovators, ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, http://abacenterforinnovation.org/resources/innovators.
3 Fines and Fees, Annual Meeting 2017, ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2017/08/video_highlightscr.html.
4 Meet Our Fellows, ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, http://abacenterforinnovation.org/fellowships/meet-our-fellows.
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Bar associations can publicize information about impactful and replicable innovations.
The ABA’s new Center for Innovation, established in September 2016,1 is about to launch an
Innovation Clearinghouse that will spotlight new approaches to the delivery of legal services in a
wide range of areas, such as court innovations, legal technology, in-house legal departments, and
legal aid.2 These kinds of efforts can shed an important light on valuable projects and
demonstrate the role of bar associations in disseminating knowledge about critical legal services
innovations.
Special Events
Bars can develop special events and programs to help spread the word about innovative
tools and policy changes. The ABA Center for Innovation recently teamed with the National
Conference of Bar Presidents on a program that helped lawyers, judges, and the public learn
more about the significant problems associated with court-imposed fines and fees as well as the
innovative solutions that have been developed to address those problems.3 The Center also
organized an Innovation Spotlight event, consisting of 10 speakers from different parts of the
legal industry who delivered short presentations on their impactful solutions to pressing legal
services needs. Numerous similar programs are hosted or sponsored by bar associations every
year, and those events can help members and the public learn about critical problems and
innovative solutions.
Fellows Programs
The ABA Center for Innovation has developed two types of fellows programs to help the
profession and individual members respond to new realities. NextGen Fellows are relatively
recent law school graduates who spend a year at the Center, receive a salary, learn about
innovative approaches to legal services delivery, and advance a project designed to address a
critical legal services delivery problem.
Innovation Fellows are seasoned professionals who spend more limited time at the Center
to work on a discrete project. These professionals often lack the time and resources needed to
innovate, and a two- to three-month fellowship provides them with what they need to bring their
ideas to full potential. For instance, the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Supreme Court,
and North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts joined together to sponsor an Innovation
Fellow to come to the Center for training and to assist with efforts to establish a Center for
Innovation in North Carolina.
In each case, the Center matches fellows with available resources within and outside the
ABA to help the fellows appropriately plan and develop impactful projects.4 Moreover, each
fellow participates in a boot camp that involves training in the people, process, and technology
skills that are needed to transform the delivery of legal services. The Center expects to make the
boot camp more widely available in the coming months.
1 ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, www.abacenterforinnovation.org.
2 Innovators, ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, http://abacenterforinnovation.org/resources/innovators.
3 Fines and Fees, Annual Meeting 2017, ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-
archives/2017/08/video_highlightscr.html.
4 Meet Our Fellows, ABA CENTER FOR INNOVATION, http://abacenterforinnovation.org/fellowships/meet-our-fellows.
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