As the legal industry emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, a return to normalcy seems to be just what the doctor ordered.
Of course, it remains to be seen just what “normal” will entail. As we saw with last year’s class of Legal Rebels (“Courting Change,” February-March 2021, page 30), the pandemic helped usher in unprecedented use of communication tools and cloud-based productivity software to deal with long and indefinite shutdowns. Whether those changes will become permanent fixtures in the legal industry or footnotes to a bygone era will depend on the continuing work of innovative lawyers, legal professionals, officials and others.
Most important, it will require more Legal Rebels who are committed to changing the practice of law and the legal industry in order to serve more people more effectively. In short, it will need people who aren’t satisfied with returning to or maintaining the status quo.
For this year’s class of Legal Rebels, standing pat before, during or after the pandemic was never an option.
Selected and vetted by the ABA Journal and the ABA Center for Innovation, this year’s honorees include a lawyer who spearheaded the creation of an online community that changed the way appellate lawyers practice; a duo who created software to help overburdened criminal defense attorneys transcribe videos; and a family lawyer who created a platform to streamline the divorce process.
They all work in the hopes of building a better tomorrow—regardless of what it looks like or when it arrives.