About
LawWithoutWalls is a part-virtual, collaborative academic model, created by Michele DeStefano and Michael Bossone at the University of Miami School of Law, that brings together students, faculty, practitioners, business professionals, and entrepreneurs from around the country and the world to innovate legal education and practice. It is motivated by a desire to help those engaged in the education and practice of law to realize the impact our changing world is having upon our shared legal enterprise and to embrace that change to create a resonant, efficient, and sustainable future. Our goal is to jointly develop creative solutions to real problems in the way law is taught and practiced.
After a rigorous application process, students from Fordham Law, Harvard Law, IE Business School, Indiana University School of Law, Miami Law, New York Law School, Peking University School of Transnational Law, Stanford Law School, Sydney Law School, Universidad de Los Andes Facultad de Derecho, University College London Laws, and University of St. Gallen Law School are teamed up to identify a problem in legal education or practice. Over the semester, each team develops a Project of Worth that creatively solves its identified problem. In addition to students, each team includes an Academic Mentor, a Practitioner Mentor, a Subject Expert Advisor, an Entrepreneur Advisor, and an Alumni Advisor, all of whom virtually guide the students and ensure that the Projects of Worth are creative, feasible, and valuable to an identified target audience. In order to cultivate relationships, LawWithoutWalls kicks off outside of the United States each January at one of the participating schools. It culminates with a ConPosium at Miami Law each April where students present their Projects of Worth alongside leading academics and practitioners. As a key component to LawWithoutWalls, students participate in Virtual Thought Leader Sessions wherein experts from around the world: 1) share their multidisciplinary perspectives on the needed changes in legal education and practice; and 2) teach professional, team building, idea generation, and entrepreneurial skills.
LawWithoutWalls is, among other things, an attempt to eliminate the barriers between faculty and students, business and law, professors and practitioners, education and practice. It is an exciting and unique opportunity to collaborate across institutions, countries, and cultures and gain invaluable experience and insight into the world of law and business. Above all else, LawWithoutWalls engages those with a stake in Law's future and provides them with a powerful vehicle for innovation and change.
