People-centered innovative solutions for legal professionalsGet a slice of the legal industry’s future pie with our value propositions:
- Develop business models that attract new clients and keep the existing
- Grow a culture that invites young talents and young clients
- Decrease costs by streamlining value bottlenecks
- Impact client experiences with value
- Use digital tech to increase efficiency
- Download my white paper
- Try our Speed Check! Where are your value refinement areas? Test yourself online, here. Make an appointment for a 20 minutes assessment of your results. You can reach out during Open Office hours. Fridays from 10 h to 13 h CET.
Karla Schlaepfer, founder of Legal Design Change, has been using agile processes within the legal sector since 2017. She is a Design Thinking and Google Sprint facilitator, professional cultural change coach, educator and author. Here a selection of those who trust in Karla’s work.
Events
New! Join me for Webinars and Lunch and Learn events ONLINE
Thrilled to collaborate and moderate with experts in the digital, legal tech and business project management sector. We’ll combine interactive formats with information and fun. Always with content-rich take-aways that you can use in your work.
Leveraging client insights and solving the right problems – this is absolutely critical in today’s dynamic legal environment. Digital solutions can reduce human effort, save time and increase efficiency. But only if they’re designed so that lawyers, legal staff and stakeholders actually want to use them!
Karla Schlaepfer, together with Visorian GmbH, will moderate this webinar and show how to work differently to solve legal problems using best practices like design thinking and enabling a “growth mindset”. The webinar is will be a “walk-through” with a practicing lawyer, asking questions, generating insights and solving problems using a legal business case of document management. We aim to show in this interactive 30-minute session, how easy it is to acquire the necessary skills and cultural models to drive user-friendly legal services with high business value. This is the first of a 4-part series of webinars.
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Events
Want to get some legal dynamics going? Read our book!
Karla Schlaepfer M.A. is co-author of the Schäffer-Poeschel non-fiction reference book on Cultural Shifts, Transformation and how to integrate digitalization processes into human-centered working.
Karla Schlaepfer and Martin Welz create a compelling case for New Work models in our continually changing digital world. In their book, they outline the steps required to change the way we work in the 21st century. Their model of New Work focuses on why a shift to human-centered values in the workplace is key to enabling innovation. They outline how to carry out this innovation shift with mental models, agile best practices and the creation of high preforming teams. The authors have conducted interviews in Silicon Valley, at IDEO, Stanford, and with top business people in Germany and Switzerland. The results are presented in a highly visual, informative format with practical tips on skill development and go-to advice in an extensive reference section.
Visit our five-star book website: Das dynamische Unternehmen Wie Wertewandel, Innovation und Digitalisierung zum Erfolg führen.
Relevant Reading
Publications
Articles on New Work collaboration, Remote Legal Teams, Cultural and Agile Shifts with Design Thinking, Legal Tech Keynote and interviews. My interviews and articles combine systematic agile methods with how-tos for holistic cultural change in the legal field.
To unleash the power and potential of new legal technology, we need to change the way we think about collaboration and people enablement.
Encourage legal teamwork! Read about how to set up and establish great remote teamwork in my latest article in Legal Business World.
- How Agile Design Thinking Helps Lawyers Surf the Digital Waves
- Legal Business World
- Karla Schlaepfer’s essay in Legal Evolutionary E-Journal: Legal Design Thinking in Action; Finding Answers with New Ways of Working and Agile Mindsets. (GERMAN)
- Karla Schlaepfer interviewed by RA Dr. Martin Lücke as part of his master’s thesis on Design thinking in the Legal sector (German)
- Liquid Legal Institute White Paper, “Remote Legal Teams-Getting Started and Making It Work! What legal organizations and leaders need to know”.
- Interview with Ms Schlaepfer NRW Creative Wirtschaft (German)
- Five Reasons to Love your own Mistakes (German)
- Press release on the 5th NRW Legal Tech Meet-Up sponsored by Wolters Kluwer.
Check out my Legal Design Change blog for more insights. I write as a design thinker about changing values and change processes in the legal profession.
Set up your free 1st meeting, we’ll discuss your current situation, and map out where you want to go.
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Purpose
Do you want to create the right conditions for thriving people cultures?
Take a step back and start to see legal tech issues differently!
Use agile Best Practices to assess, prioritize and focus on the right solution for you.
Agile methods, Design Sprints or Design Thinking are established frameworks to identify insights, assess and test hypotheses, and build and validate prototypes. These approaches mandate the use of different perspectives and skills. Skills that involve interdisciplinary and cross-departmental collaboration, agile teamwork and risk minimalization through fast iteration and testing.
Routine legal issues and pain points are seen through a different lens. Design Thinking is a solution-centered and holistic approach; we consider how the pieces effect the whole. For example, legal document management, contracts, handling of disputes, NDAs, pitches, M+ As and client services can be spotlighted and unpacked in a value or stakeholder mapping to identify bottlenecks. These complexities and dependencies prevent an optimal workflow and incur costs. They can be targeted, identified and tackled. First big step towards change, create awareness!
Where are your current pain points? What are you trying to achieve? What challenges are you facing? Let’s dive in and find ways to solve your problems!
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References
Helping you succeed – selected Testimonials
Your creative leadership skills as a designs sprint facilitator shined bright during our work together in this 12 week project. I look forward to sharing and serving change in our world together in the future.
I just wanted to complement you (and your co-author Baltasar Cevc) on your excellent article on "Remote Legal Teams, which I just read on Legal Business World’s website. I am a longtime advocate of the concepts you put forth, but rarely have I seen them addressed with such clarity and so practically.
“I really appreciated the Design Thinking workshop and learned a lot. It was great to experience the complete workflow of Design Thinking and even have a really solid prototype at the end. I would definitely recommend this Design Thinking workshop to others.”
“It is a pleasure to work with Karla and experience our exchange from very different yet understandable perspectives. I look forward to working with you and learning from your experience in Design Thinking – it’s always good to work with people with broad experience and a positive mindset!”
“Thank you, Karla. I liked your workshops because you made them very lively by alternating between lecture and active exercises with the participants. I particularly liked your approach of using your working methods to try to get the quiet people in a group more involved and not just the ’extroverts”. That’s very important in teamwork and all too often comes up to short in everyday office life.”
“Simply wonderful! I learned a great technique! I can apply this Google Design Sprint tool to work with interdisciplinary teams to develop platforms in the legal field and design online platforms for dispute resolution using artificial intelligence. From Mexico to Germany, I have been looking for this tool. Many thanks to Karla Schlaepfer for your great generosity.”
Karla is a certified Design Sprint facilitator. Read more about Design Sprints and amazing outcomes.
Offer: Design Thinking
Score with Best Practices from agile Design Thinking!
Use a synthesis between the tried and true and the necessary new!
There are more similarities to “legal thinking” and Design Thinking than meets the eye.
In our age of digital transformation, those law firms that respond faster to changes and try out new client-centered models are the ones that have a competitive advantage. Those that embrace best practices from exploratory frameworks like Design Thinking to address pertinent issues and learn how to innovate to drive outcomes with high client value – even more so.
Lawyers have been taught to go about their work in a specific systematic manner. It may surprise you that there are a number of similarities between the legal thinking approach and how Design Thinkers approach problems and task. Surprised? Then have a look at the list 😊
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Example 1: The core tasks of lawyers and legal professionals are problem-solving and risk management. Design Thinking and Design Sprints frameworks are primarily problem-solving methods too. These frameworks are used to develop user-centered solutions. Risk is decreased through continual (iterative)development and quick validation with stakeholder testing before a roll-out. Similar to a pilot project in a legal firm, only much faster.
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Example 2: A standard manner of undertaking a legal task is to break it down into numerous small subtasks. Later the pieces are brought together at the end of the assignment. Design thinking does the same. Unpacking the pieces of the problem and later reassembling them into a holistic solution.
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Example 3: A designer’s way of thinking helps tackle uncertainty by doing user research and looking at the problem from all angles before prioritizing the user’s particular need or motivation. Doesn’t a competent lawyer approach ambiguity in a similar fashion? Design Thinking might feel quite familiar to the open-minded lawyer.
More information and Design Thinking examples.
Indeed, the hurdles for the legal sector to try out agile best practices are not as high as you might think – Let’s jump!
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Impressions
Offer: Coaching
Coaching for Legal Leaders and Partners
Focus on what matters to equip yourself to lead with resilience and empathy.
New leadership and strategic soft skills for our New Work digital age.
Why work with me a Professional Systemic Coach?
What I love and offer:
- Intelligent, honest and heartfelt conversations with great people.
- Helping people grow and develop into the person they want to be.
- Collaborating with teams to strengthen and develop the team into a space to which everybody is looking forward to, willing to give his or her best.
As an empathetic and humorous person, I’m an appreciative, committed and very supportive coach. Born in California, I have been working and living ‘internationally’ since 1995. I combine intercultural competencies with high practical relevancy and a broad skill set. Whether your goal is to go through an agile transition, support a digital transformation, increase business agility in your organization, or simply develop personally, I can help you get where you want to go.
Coaching for: Teams, Individuals, Leaders, Legal Professionals, Organizations, Start-ups
Special areas: Change Management, Cultural Change, Agile Mindset, Conflict Management
Karla Schlaepfer is an agile expert, co-author of a text book on cultural change in business, Design Thinking e-book and a certified Systemic coach and Change Manager.
- 2014: Systemic and Change Management Certification INeKO University of Cologne.
- 2018: Official Coach, Legal ®Evolution, Frankfurt
- 2019: PSI -Personality Systems Interactions Theory basic course and qualification as a competence consultant.
- 2020: Official Coach, Legal ® Evolution, Frankfurt
- 2020: International Coaching Federation Member
- 2021: Offizieller Coach und Partner auf der LEGAL LIVE eine Messe von den Machern der Legal ®Evolution
Virtual coaching with pleasure! Just choose your platform (Teams, Zoom, WebEx etc.).
Professional Coaching is more important than ever!
Our digital age and our New Work world challenge legal professionals with constantly changing dynamics. There are no patent recipes or precedents to handle with this. To meet these challenges and to step up to the plate with new mental leadership models, personal change skills must be continuously developed and practiced. This is transformational leadership, new leadership and strategic personal soft skills for New Work digital age.
Find out about valuable 21st century upskills that impact people now and will so more in the future. Acceptance towards new and evolving digital technology is only the start!
Here’s where I can help. My coaching provides leaders with the mindset, tools and knowledge to create and lead high-performance physical and virtual teams.
As your coach, I work with and guide you, using solution-based techniques, encouraging you to discover and activate your emotional intelligence, talents and strengths to get to your desired outcome.
As a sparring partner we can reflect together from different perspectives to move forward. Conflict management is another competency that is increasingly sought after. Mediation is a desired 21st-century skill.
Learning about and experiencing the benefits of an open or “growth” mindset, also called “digital mindset” is a core component of my work. This is a subtle but important skill that makes a huge difference in individual mental agility and understanding change. I also use solution-focused technics, NLP best practices, appreciative inquiry, and mindfulness techniques to help you move quickly into a healthier mental space and reach the solution zone.
If this appeals to you and you would like to know more, have a look at my detailed coaching and mindfulness pages.
I look forward to accompanying you on your journey!
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Offer: Agile Workshops
Agile Workshops – Adaptability is a key to success!
Find out more about how to enable agile Teams with training, coaching and a digital mindset shift.
Get high-impact tools for teams to align around common goals, gain team buy-in, build trust, reduce risks and deliver concrete results on your projects.
A sound understanding of agility can help simplify, uncover waste, and increase focus and prioritization. Agile structures, tools and a digital or growth mindset approach are fundamental. They lay the foundation and create the drive and momentum within agile and New Work environments.
To adapt to current customer expectations and future needs, to develop innovative products systematically and test and leverage new technologies that make sense for the individual company culture.
Digital applications fused with agile team behaviors, value-based thinking and principles are esstential for efficiency, better customer experience outcomes and building a trusting company culture.
To achieve this, Legal Design Change offers coaching, workshops and consulting.
Get insights into practice and the benefits behind the buzzwords!
This modular workshop system provides you and your legal team with the basic skills, tools and knowledge you need to start thinking and practicing agile. The contents range from organizational design, visual work management, Kanban, Scrum introduction, agile meetings, collegial feedback and Design Thinking. Decide which agile practices are most beneficial to you and choose your module.
Or pick them all!
Agile Basics course complete consisting of 6 modules (4 hours per module).
Modules can be booked separately
Agile Basics
- Agile legal leadership- why is this different? What is emotional agility?
- Self-organized teams in legal departments
- Design Thinking for Lawyers who drive innovation
- Scrum Essentials in a Nutshell
- Kanban tool for project management
- Agile methods and tools for working together differently
Legal Design Change supports teams in the Agile Basics course by providing clear benchmarks for strategic future decision making. The participants learn how to transfer the acquired skills into their everyday practice. Legal Design Change uses cutting edge materials (including audio/video) and proven didactic methods and tools to enable the team to understand the “why” in a given change situation and „how" to implement change in the context of the enterprise system.
Agile practices introduce new roles, different communication patterns, and a new de-centralized distribution of decision-making authority. This is practiced in simulations and a series of interactive case studies. Dealing with resistance and troubleshooting are included in all modules.
Learn more about Agile practices and Scrum.
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Example Agile Case Study 2020
The Bonn University administration begins an exciting agile transformation.
Find out about their experimental journey.
At the University of Bonn, nine administrative teams began using the agile tool Trello as a means to coordinate and organize a number of pilot projects in their new agile transformation process.
In learning by doing, the teams applied the agile pull principle to claim their training cards or slots from the agile coaches and those of their peers. In Kanban, every team can see and track the progress of the other teams. This provides an opportunity to share information, synergize and plan better. Participants learn how to break down the huge change process into smaller bit-sized steps. The teams get used to more self-organization, discover more positive motivation and take on more responsibility for their tasks in the process.
In a playful, interactive way, for example with Lego Serious Play, the teams learn about an agile or (growth) sometimes called a digital mindset and why this is important. A growth mindset is a mental model based on self-reflection, risk assessment, feedback practices, and the ability to continuously learn from mistakes. Becoming aware of these patterns is a big part of the change process. But also having the time, space and curiosity to experiment with different way of working, for example, with customer research, increases the buy-in of teams and starts to promote a cultural change dynamic.
Agile change projects can be carried out using agile project management tools such as Trello and MS Teams, with virtual white boards like Miro, Mural or Concept Board. These tools allow teams to team together on common projects even when part of a distributed workforce.
Read about another case study at Deutschlandfunk (in German).
Interested in an agile workshop, transformation consulting or scrum training?
Snag your first free appointment and schedule your meeting!
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Events
Book Your Individual Digital Tech Lounge
Color me stoked! Excited to work with the digital and legal tech experts at Unterschied und Macher! We’re collaborating and have created an exciting microlearning format for law firms on subjects covering digitalization and cultural change. Have a look!
Microlearning stands for a new kind of continuing education. Our crisp virtual formats prepare relevant topics around digitalization and agile ways of working in 60-minute units specifically for the needs of law firms.
We offer our 60-minute Digital Lounge on these key topics:
- Cultural Change
- Design Thinking and client-centric ways of working
- Hackathons, Design Sprints, Rapid Prototyping
- Best practices for the evaluation and implementation of legal tech solutions.
- Software development for lawyers
Pragmatic, concrete with an intelligent dose of inspiration. The format is easy to integrate into your law firm’s daily routine either at lunch or afterwork special.
The format takes place exclusively in and for your law firm.
Book your Tech Lounge here:Read more
More relevant information
Not convinced? Read on!
Here is what you as an open-minded Legal Professional might want to consider.
The breaking points; look at current disruptive challenges for all legal game changers.
Which issues and questions have high business value and need to be tackled now?
This century’s digital transformation overturns routines, poses new challenges for all players, stakeholders and demands fresh answers. All sizes of legal firms, in-house and corporate legal and compliance departments are called on to face uncertainties, jump over their shadows, and provide new answers to these ongoing change processes.
Here are important issues and questions that require innovative answers from legal champions
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Efficiency: How can we assess which digital tools are the best fit for us? Which legal tech tools can be used together? How can we define and set up a standard digital signature? Speed up the contract release? Improve inefficient organizational structures? Save time with the adaptation of templates? Improve contract management? Reduce paper and printing costs?
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Risks: How can we align and balance IT concerns (risks) without preventing opportunities for innovation? How can we handle security requirements more quickly? How can we improve compliance and transparence in-house?
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Break-down silos: How can we increase collaboration and better interdisciplinary communication with impact? Better use the know-how of all colleagues? Instill diversity and inclusivity? Further channel company overarching NDAs? Improve and increase interfacing with other departments and partners?
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AI: How does artificial intelligence impact our work today and in the future? How can we best use contracts analytics with AI, advanced chatbots for our expertise? How will documents be analyzed and produced in the future? How can we use AI to help to reevaluate low-priority or non-value-added activities, and reduce, automate, or outsource them so legal professionals can focus on what really matters?
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Prototyping: How can we determine the right time to test tech tools? Figure out if it is worthwhile to spend money on new tech, business models or innovative services? Set up small experiments like a MVP to test the value of our prototypes with our clients and relevant stakeholders?
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Culture: How can we create a high-performing trusting team culture? How will we provide legal advice in the right place and to the right people in the future? How can we identify and design for future needs? How can we make digital processes attractive and easy? How can we reduce fears of being replaced by tech or ease the integration of a start-up? How can we increase the skill set needed for the 21st century?
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Pilot Project: How can you introduce a major change in your organization — a new technology, process, system, product, partnership, or the like? It can be tested in a small experiment or a pilot project. And when the results are validated, how do you scale it? Telling everyone to implement your new solution or tool won’t work. How might you create the conditions that allow teams across the organization to adapt the pilot to their unique circumstances?
These are current pressing challenges effecting the legal industry. They call for new people-oriented, digital and legal tech strategies. The creative combination of client-centric methods paving the way for more acceptance and use of technologies is a powerful incentive.
With best practices and skills from innovation processes, I can help you, your law firm or department generate new human-centered digital solutions that drive business value now and in the future.
Isn’t it time for bold, innovative solutions in your legal firm or department?
Reach out to me about your unique situation and find how to tackle your challenges!
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