Renaissance Lawyer Society

Renaissance Lawyer Society is an organization of lawyers at the cutting edge of an exciting worldwide movement that is transforming the practice of law. The early idea was a product of some 2000 brainstorming sessions between North Carolina attorneys, J. Kim Wright and Bryden Manning, and New York attorney, Carolyn Hansen, who were originally searching for a vehicle for their coaching and healing practices. When Kim left her holistically oriented family law practice in Graham, North Carolina, for Portland, Oregon, she also temporarily left the practice of law to research this movement. Dozens of conferences and books, hundreds of conversations and thousands of contacts later, she developed the initial website, www.renaissancelawyer.com. Out of the initial research and work, Kim began to realize that a movement was arising and declared that "Renaissance Lawyer" would be a clearinghouse of information for lawyers practicing in new and innovative, even transformative ways. After an initial series of teleconference classes and e-mails showed a clear interest amongst hundreds of lawyers, Kim invited all members of her mailing list to declare exactly how they wanted to help move the structure of the organization along.

Eight committed legal professionals declared themselves members of the "Leaders Circle," who committed their time, money, and talents to meet for a planning weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada in June, 2001. Along with Kim were Dolly Garlo, attorney and coach from Florida; Pat Sullivan, author, minister and legal assistant from California; Carolyn Hansen, attorney from New York; Cheryl Stephens, attorney and coach from Canada; Allison Tiffany, attorney and coach from Nevada; Marilyn Westerfield, attorney and coach from Maine; and Kevin Ginsberg, attorney and massage therapist from North Carolina. With the help and encouragement of Stacy Hall and Jan Brogniez, they developed the initial concepts for creation of a new organization.

The Leaders Circle became the original Board of Directors of "Renaissance Lawyer International," each taking on a specific accountability such as programming, membership, and public relations. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to "Renaissance Lawyer Society," articles of incorporation and by-laws were drafted, and the organization was gaining steam. Our 501(c)3 status was approved in 2004.

In the summer of 2001, the Board of Directors opened the organization for membership. Our initial offering was to ask "Founding Members" for gifts of $100 to establish the organization. Over 100 Founding Members flooded forward in a matter of weeks, 33 of whom attended the first Renaissance Lawyer Society conference in Portland, Oregon over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend in January, 2002. It was an exciting weekend in which members met to further clarify the organizational structure, purpose, mission and values. Enduring friendships were made and members inspired each other to step forward in their communities.

The original Board of Directors met by teleconference for one hour every Tuesday for the initial year before tapering back to once every two weeks, and then once a month. Board members have changed over the years, but the organization has always been led by legal professionals with shared values and commitments to the future of the law. A Board of Advisors has also served to lend guidance to the organization.

In February, 2003, a second annual conference was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Board of Directors also had in-person Board meetings in Austin, Texas in June, 2003, and Nashville, Tennessee in October, 2004.

In 2004, the organization's tag-line was changed from "Creating a Legal System that Works for Everyone" to "Supporting Legal Innovation and Transformation" in order to better communicate what it is that we do.

In 2005, we went to Black Mountain, North Carolina for "summer peacemaking camp" to explore "The Role of Peacemakers in Healing Polarization."

For many years, we published The Cable. The early Cable was a calendar of events and announcements about the growing movement. Originally about four pages of information, the growing movement soon exceeded 16 pages of conferences, teleclasses, seminars, jobs, and announcements.

Renaissance Lawyer Society's website has always been our greatest contribution to the movement. The website is filled with hundreds of pages of informational text and links. We received approximately 100,000 hits on our website in 2003. Our board members serve as resources to the media as well. Several board members have published articles in bar journals (see, for example, the February, 2004 cover article in the Washington Bar News, http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/2004/feb-04-default.htm).

The organization has received attention from local, state and national print media and was mentioned on the Paul Harvey nationally syndicated radio show in 2004 when Paul Harvey discussed current President, Maureen Holland's law practice and the Christian Science Monitor. Previous articles have appeared in IONS magazine, Science of Mind, and in many bar journals. Founding board members Dolly Garlo, Kevin Ginsberg, and Kim Wright wrote contributions to the fifth edition of Deborah Arron's popular What Can You Do With a Law Degree? (Decision Books, 2004). Dozens of law school websites link students to our website, and many students find out about us from many law professors who are members and/or supporters. Students from law schools have formed their own student organizations, some self named, some under the umbrella of Renaissance Lawyer Society. The organization's other offerings have been conferences, teleclasses, and CLEs, as well as, probably most valuable of all, networking between like-minded attorneys.

In 2007, we stand at a crossroads. The "movement" has grown so fast that we are challenged as an organization to keep track of the evolution and to keep our hundreds of pages of content updated. At the same time, we recognize that the "movement" has different needs than when RLS was started.

We have always been funded solely by our members and board members, with the work of the organization performed by volunteers. As we move into this new era, we seek to transform RLS from an all volunteer organization to a professional, funded and staffed non-profit. We have a new Executive Director, Moniqua Lane, to help usher us through this transition. We are also pleased to launch our first local chapter of Renaissance Lawyer Society in Memphis, Tennessee.

Now, more than ever, we need your support. Your contributions are appreciated (http://www.renaissancelawyer.com/joinus.htm ) as well as any leads to larger grants or donations that can accelerate our ability to bring innovative and transformation to the legal system.