Visioning the Future: Report on the Aba Seize the Future Conference

• Publication year: 1997
• Pages: 93

26 Colo.Law. 93 Colorado Lawyer 1997.

1997, November, Pg. 93. Visioning the Future: Report on the ABA Seize the Future Conference

---

93

Vol.26, No. 11, Pg. 93

The Colorado Lawyer
November 1997
Vol. 26, No. 11 [Page 93]

Specialty Law Columns
Law Practice Management
Visioning the Future: Report on the ABA "Seize the Future" Conference
by Phil J. Shuey

As this column reflected in the recent past, the legal profession moves forward by looking backward.1 Mind-set created by stare decisis and precedent is usually anything but visionary. This column discusses a ground-breaking American Bar Association ("ABA") conference, and what is hoped will be the results of that conference

Seize the Future

By the time this column is published, the ABA's Law Practice Management ("LPM") Section, with active sponsorship and involvement of Lotus Development Corporation will have conducted one of the most significant legal educational conferences ever held, called "Seize the Future." This author is known for his involvement with the ABA's TECHSHOW and with previous ABA International Conferences, so the statement is not lightly made

Almost without exception, continuing legal education has been an exercise of lawyers speaking to lawyers. All keynote speakers at Seize the Future were nonlawyers. The first speaker was John Naisbitt, of Megatrends fame, speaking about a vastly different world for everyone in the next millennium. He was followed by Joel Arthur Barker, known as the Paradigm Man. In 1975, Barker pioneered the application of paradigm shift theory to organizational vision. His 1992 book, Future Edge, was selected as the most influential book of that year by the Library Journal. The luncheon keynote was Jennifer James, a social anthropologist known for her book, Thinking in the Future Tense. The final keynote speaker was Dr. Byron Fiman, a principal and co-founder of Implementation Management Associates, Inc., a change management group.

The conference objective was to bring together top "influencers" in the legal profession to obtain the view of the world to come, the ability to "see" the changes, and finally, the tools necessary to prepare for those changes. It is hoped that these influencers can spread the message, as this column shall.

The Seize the Future Conference was a by-invitation-only conference for private lawyers in various-sized firms, judges, law professors, corporate counsel, and others. This conference will, it is hoped, be the first of a series of products of the LPM Section, including other less expensive and larger conferences or other products, to help lawyers prepare for the difficult future.

Some readers may not feel that any change is required. Business as usual is a common mind-set, particularly in a state with the strong growth and activity of Colorado. For those readers with that mind-set, career counseling may be beneficial because such shortsightedness will, in this author's opinion, remove the possibility of future success in the practice of law.

Naisbitt's Vision

At the Conference, Naisbitt identified new trends for the world as a whole, including the influence of women in the marketplace, the economic significance of the...