Paradigm Shifting Trip Takes Kim Into the Heartland in September

What would be possible if we focused on having conversations that matter? What if we took what we know about what is possible and re-imagined the legal system?

With the support of our sponsor, the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers, on September 7, I head out for a whirlwind tour to Knoxville, Nashville (Vanderbilt), Memphis, St. Louis (St. Louis University School of Law), Columbia, MO (U. of MO Law), Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka (Washburn Law), Wichita, Denver (Denver Law), Boulder (Colorado Law & Naropa University), Salt Lake City, and Boise, all in September! I'm speaking to lawyers, mediators, law students and professors. I'm having coffee, breakfasts, lunches, receptions, and dinners. I'm filming interviews and being interviewed.

The exact schedule is under constant change as new meetings are added. It is posted on the web at:
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=b7ojspvpb8k1fgl7eb64ilcb3g%40gr...

I'll be blogging along the way. Watch the site for daily updates!

Part book tour, part missionary trip, announcements and invitations have already gone out to thousands of lawyers. The primary topic is an inquiry into what kind of legal system we want to create. I'm keeping to the same theme at every event:

Below is what most of the invitations have included:

Lawyers as Peacemakers: Integrity, Purpose and Values in the New Paradigm of Law Practice

On one hand, parts of our society are learning to think systematically, to be emotionally and spiritually intelligent, to find win/win solutions and to work in collaboration not competition. From Oprah to best seller lists to business consulting, we hear conversations about transformation. On the other hand, our legal profession and other parts of our society continue to envision issues only in polarization, to see ourselves only as adversaries, and to express ourselves uncivilly and intolerantly.

This program will explore how the legal profession is adopting new paradigms of practice that privilege peacemaking in ways consistent with a lawyer’s ethical responsibilities. Some of the questions that CLE participants will consider include:

* What is the purpose of the legal system?
* What societal values does the legal system represent?
* What other values could it represent?
* What is a lawyer’s traditional role in the legal system?
* How might we alter a lawyer’s role in the legal system to incorporate other values?
* In what ways do the current legal ethics rules encourage or discourage lawyers from bringing new values to bear on their professional work?
* How do our individual purposes integrate with this new vision of the legal profession?
* How might a lawyer work to bring change to the legal profession and to society as a whole?

This program is designed as both a personal and a systemic exploration of law, using a combination of cognitive material, interactivity, and experiential exercises.

Bio of J. Kim Wright: The author of the new American Bar Association flagship book and best seller, Lawyers as Peacemakers, Practicing Holistic, Problem-Solving Law, J. Kim Wright is the publisher of CuttingEdgeLaw.com, a web community, magazine and resource center which proposes the question: What if lawyers were peacemakers, problem-solvers and healers of conflicts? Cutting Edge Law contains interviews of over a hundred lawyers, law professors, law students, judges and allied professionals who are on the cutting-edge of legal practice. In 2009, the ABA named her as one of their 50 Legal Rebels who are “finding new ways to practice law, represent their clients, adjudicate cases and train the next generation of lawyers.” Kim coaches lawyers on transforming their law practices and finding right livelihood. She leads retreats, speaks and trains lawyers in new approaches to law and the skills needed to succeed in the new paradigm of law practice. She is a 1989 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law and a member of the North Carolina Bar.

I've already started press interviews about the trip - the first one was at 10:30 p.m. tonight. More to come!