Frequently Asked Questions

What is  "transforming the legal profession"?  What are you transforming to?

We are mostly lawyers working in the legal system and looking for ways to make a difference. We know that a lot of things haven't been working in the adversarial system. We have identified some common goals:

*The approach is systemic, looking at the whole, and legal issues in the context of the person's whole life, the relationships, the community, and even the global context.
*The focus is on resolution and healing.
*Rather than looking to the past and punishing past transgressions, the focus is on the future and "What do we do now?" In this context, we look at reconciling relationships, apology, forgiveness, listening, getting complete and moving on with our lives.
*There is a value of mutual recognition and respect for all those involved in the process.
*There is an element of interconnectedness, wholeness.  For many people, this is expressed as spirituality.
*The solutions are Win/Win/Win--the parties win but the community also wins. In many of these approaches, there is an active community involvement.  For example, in restorative justice, a member of the community actually sits in on a sentencing circle, representing the community.

All over the world, different approaches have been created by visionary leaders so we call it visionary law. Others use terms like transformational law, comprehensive law, integral law, or holistic law. There are about twenty different expressions of this movement, different ways lawyers are approaching the transformation. Our web site includes information about them.

 Is there a crisis in the law profession?

    Some people would certainly say so. Alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, lawyer dissatisfaction and lawyer distress are high. There are complaints that the adversarial system has lost its professionalism. The internet allows potential clients to download forms and get advice without ever coming into a law office. Other professionals are providing services that lawyers used to provide. The old rules that used to work don't work any more.

     And, maybe it is not a crisis at all but just the normal course of events when a major change is about to occur. We have been noticing a movement to a more humanistic, holistic approach to the law where lawyers have redesigned their practices, and in many cases, their communities to reflect the new approaches. We call these approaches Transformational or Renaissance Lawyering and we have a whole section of the site dedicated to descriptions of these new approaches. .

What does Renaissance Lawyer do?

      We are a non-profit educational organization. 

*We aim to be the hub of activities and education in a new paradigm of the legal system.

*We provide liaison between others working for change in the legal system and we are a clearinghouse for information about this movement.

*We provide web links and information about upcoming events in the field of transformational lawyering.

*We provide opportunities for connections for individual's networking and support of common interests. 

* Our calendar provides a venue for sharing information including teleclasses on various topics, conferences, retreats, continuing legal education, and other educational programs.

*We provide speakers and venues to facilitate meaningful dialogue about topics that matter most: about integrity, purposeful living, creativity, honor, professionalism, ethical behavior, quality of life, excellence in life and law, and many others.  
 

What is "Transformational Law" or "Visionary Law"?

     Over the years, the movement has struggled with what to call ourselves. We see the common threads but no particular term seems to capture the heart and soul of all of it. We have coined various terms that refer to the cutting edge approaches to the resolution of conflict and problems. Transformational lawyers have used their problem-solving skills to create new models for the practice of law that expand the options available to lawyers and clients. Some examples include:  Collaborative law, Restorative Justice, Community Lawyering, Drug Courts, Peace-making and others are described in this site and links are provided to reach them.