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No risk, no reward—in this second episode of season two of Matters, we'll take a high-level view of the legal profession—chiefly, why lawyers tend to be so risk-averse, and the effects that this cautiousness has on legal practice, innovation, and firm sustainability.

For this discussion, our hosts, Jack and Nefra, welcome renowned legal author Mitch Kowalski, Big Law attorney and Access to Justice expert Tiffany Graves, and award-winning law professor and scholar Bill Henderson.

Specific discussion points include:

• Why so many lawyers and law firms have been slow to adapt to technological changes, as compared to other industries.
• Why change is scary for many legal professionals, and how resistance to change stifles progress in the industry.
• How adopting a client-centered mindset encourages legal professionals to be more adaptive and innovative.
• What progress has been made in recent years, especially as the industry responded to Covid-19.
• Why lawyers' emphasis on risk management can have strong negative consequences when applied to law firm business decisions.
• How thinking like a businessperson emphasizes smart risk-taking, and why lawyers should adopt a business mindset.

Listen in for these takeaways and more!

Our Guests:

Mitch Kowalski

Mitch Kowalski is a lawyer, writer, keynote speaker, legal operations consultant, and author of the critically-acclaimed books The Great Legal Reformation and Avoiding Extinction: Reimagining Legal Services for the 21st Century. A College of Law Practice Management Fellow and a Fastcase 50 Innovator Award honoree, Mitch has general counsel, international law firm partner, and Board of Directors experience. As a legal consultant, he helps teams and law firms to deliver value and perform at higher levels. Mitch speaks on legal service innovation at conferences around the world and writes for a variety of publications about the challenges of legal operations. You can follow him on Twitter at @MEKowalski.

Tiffany Graves

Tiffany M. Graves serves as Pro Bono Counsel at Bradley, a 500-attorney law firm with offices across the southern United States. In her role, Tiffany oversees the development and administration of the firm’s pro bono programs. Prior to joining Bradley, Tiffany was the executive director of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission, where she led a 21-member commission created by the Mississippi Supreme Court and promoted its initiatives to improve and expand access to civil justice to the nearly 700,000 Mississippians living in poverty. In addition, Tiffany previously served as interim director and adjunct professor for the Pro Bono Initiative at the University of Mississippi School of Law, and as executive director and general counsel for the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project. You can follow Tiffany on Twitter at @tiffmgraves.

Bill Henderson

Bill Henderson joined the Indiana University Maurer School of Law faculty in 2003 following a visiting appointment at Chicago-Kent College of Law and a judicial clerkship for Judge Richard Cudahy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Drawing upon more than a decade of research, Bill is a sought-after commentator on the changing legal marketplace and has accumulated numerous awards. In the last five years, he has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal, the Most Influential Person in Legal Education by National Jurist Magazine, and one of the inaugural group of “Legal Rebels” profiled by the ABA Journal. You can follow Bill on Twitter at @wihender.

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