Legal Edgewalkers
Law Practice Today Feature Article on Integrative Law
Happy New Year!
Take a look at this article featured in Law Practice Today, January issue.
Integrative Law: Evolution of the Legal System
(Kim will be back from under the to-do pile soon. Here is a photo she took in Florida last week. That is an alligator in the right corner.)
Special Announcement - Conscious Contracts, December 11, 12
Last night, I wrote an eloquent report of my last circumnavigation of Earth, complete with links and photos and inspiring updates. Just as I was about to save it, something went "Blip!" and it was lost. In a few words: The trip was awesome and I am hopeful and inspired! I'll overcome the angst of losing the other post and recreate it soon.
However, a part of my post was time sensitive and so I am sending this as a special announcement.
Have you noticed how legal documents often take the soul out of agreements?
Would you like to learn to write documents that create sustainable relationships?
Do you want to connect with conscious businesses and work with clients who value your input?
The most popular workshop I lead is Conscious Contracts. It has been a big hit in Europe and Australia and has had significant traction and interest in the US, South Africa, and India. The evaluations have praised the course with scores of 3.75+ on a scale of 4.0. The comments have included statements about how it changed the lives of the participants, far beyond any CLE/CPD they've ever taken.
Here is one of the descriptions of the course:
Many businesses are now focussing on creating value-based cultures. This workshop will discuss how lawyers can assist companies align their legal documents with their company values, creating long-term sustainable relationships in all legal documents
And the 3.5-minute Sketchvideo about Conscious Contracts can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30coypdjTwE
While I have been off leading workshops, Linda Alvarez has been writing the book on the topic. A description of the book from Linda:
The manuscript is finished!
The manuscript for Lawyers as Changemakers, The Emerging International Integrative Law Movement has gone to the publisher! Now the ABA wheels turn toward copyediting, fine-tuning, layout, cover art, and perhaps even tweaking the title before it is released next March-ish. The final manuscript had 248,993 words. There are examples of the movement in action on six continents.
Writing and editing was an organic process. Many of you wrote your stories and then I looked to see how that demonstrated integrative law. I learned a lot and the book that has gone to the publisher reflects what I learned from all the contributors and others I've encountered on my journey.
Below is a collage of the contributors to the book. I daresay there is no finer-looking, heart-centered group of lawyers anywhere... until we get together another group of us at some point.
[If you contributed and don't see your photo, please be in touch. It means I don't have a photo for you!]
I have a few loose ends to tie up (like doing everything that I have postponed for the last several months!) and the next chapter will begin.
North Carolina >Netherlands>South Africa>India>Australia>TEDx in New York, here I come!
Love,
Kim
Join me in South Africa!
If you are planning to attend this conference and are coming from outside South Africa, please let me know! We are planning a special event for international visitors.
The College of Law and the Institute For Dispute Resolution in Africa (IDRA) invite you to attend the LAWYERS AS PEACEMAKERS CONFERENCE 14-15 October 2015, Kgorong Function Hall, Unisa Main Campus, Pretoria.
UNISA’s Institute for Dispute Resolution in Africa is pleased to host this exciting conference on the trends, models and approaches that are transforming the legal profession into a peacemaking, problem-solving and healing profession.
In times of challenge, systems change and ecological crisis, the world needs a legal system that strives to resolve core problems, acts as a catalyst for societal transformation, promotes access to justice and engenders lawyer and client satisfaction. Legal models need to be developed that reflect our interconnectedness and create a culture of harmony.
The conference brings together leaders in the international Integrative Law Movement, including many South African innovators.
The objective is to educate, inspire, encourage, and support judges, magistrates, attorneys, advocates, law academics, mediators, policy makers and other legal professionals in gaining perspectives on the progressive shift from adversarial to non-adversarial lawyering.
The central theme of the conference explores the potential for lawyers to become peacemakers, healers, helpers and friends.
Quick email about Change the Story of Law
Today three people asked me for the information about the class on Change the Story of Law, so it must be time to think about that again. Here is the link.
We've applied for CLE in North Carolina, NC is one of those states where MCLE credit is hard to get, so if they say yes, your bar will almost certainly agree. Even if they don't, we can provide you with the information to get MCLE where you are.
October in the North Carolina Mountains + CLE + Really interesting conversation with really interesting people = What could be better? Come join us. We have a lot to talk about.
I'm off to New Mexico in the morning, then to Tallahassee on Monday. After North Carolina, I will be going around the world again. This is what stationary looks like for me. Love, Kim
Where did July go?
The summer is moving right along and my to-do list is getting longer. How does that happen? The more I work, the more there seems to be to do.
The core of my summer work is preparation for my next stage, starting in January, 2016, the big transition when I will cut my travel to half of what I've been doing. I will establish a home base and I will be able to finally do some of the projects that have been on a back burner because they're hard to do from the road. I often get suggestions from you, my dear friends, who think I ought to be doing particular activities. Yes, it would have been nice to accept that invitation from Huffington Post from several years ago. Yes, focusing on more cross-pollinating of the community would be nice. Yes, classes on how to be an integrative lawyer would be nice. Planning a dozen conferences a year from the road is already an impossible task. I have dozens of projects on my to-do list. Though worthy, many projects are more time-consuming than they look and require a level of focus that is beyond me when I am moving from one country to another every week or two. That is about to change.
We're at a new stage in the movement. Not surprisingly, you are all ahead of the curve and you've been needing to go to the next level. Thank you for waiting patiently while we've been creating a critical mass of enough lawyers to make that feasible. Stay tuned for what is next, but here are my interim steps.
How ya gonna keep her down on the farm after she's seen Paree'?
As I wrote in my previous posts, life is about to change in a big way for me. Within the next few months, I will be settling in one place, no longer being a nomad, but still traveling. Instead of 12 months of travel each year, constantly moving from place to place, I estimate that I will travel for closer to six months of each year. That is still a lot of travel, but between trips, I will be returning to a particular place, with my stuff on the walls, and an office set up to my preferences, and a big bathtub for soaking out the kinks of sitting in airplane seats for hours at a time.
I wanted to wait until the end of the year to make the announcement, but I've told several people, so I thought it was time to be public. It is a big decision for me, and I know a lot of you will be disappointed, since you have hoped I'd settle down near you. Some of you do live in places that I've placed on my Top 5 list for reasons of strong community and beautiful landscapes. I've fantasized about spending a season in each of four places. I still hope to visit those places for several weeks at a time, but I won't be living there permanently or even seasonally.
I never expected that I would say this, but I've decided to move back to Florida. Shocked? Me, too. I have often said that I was born in Florida, but I left as soon as I could. I am not a fan of summer and I prefer mountains to beaches. I am a big fan of snow. I have winter boots and heavy coats appropriate to the weather of the Rockies. I am not a big fan of the creepy, crawly things that live in tropical environments. And, if you keep up with the news in Florida, you know that there are some problems in the political and cultural system.
The Rest of the European Trip: Belgium, Paris, Zurich, Lake Como, Scotland and Beyond
I promised an update soon and I'm tardy. Here is the rest of the European trip! I'm joined in this update by my assistant, Ayni. We're reporting in more detail than usual, since people often ask what I do.
Politics of Love & Justice online summit, May 19-21
A global summit that blends spirituality with societal transformation
As lawyers, we are often at the forefront of societal challenges – or perhaps we wish we could be. Many of us wonder how to be most effective in our efforts. As integrative lawyers, we long for more compassion, consciousness, and love in our interactions.