Celebrating the End of 2010 and Our Sale!

Wow. I sat down to write an end of the year letter and realized that Cutting Edge Law isn't even a year old but we have had a pretty impressive 2009! Since our launch in March, we've had tens of thousands of unique visitors to our web site and YouTube page. We have 230 video clips uploaded and dozens more have been edited and are ready to go up in the next few weeks. We have hundreds of text files on the site - blogs, informational pages, articles. Law students are telling us that they're having a hard time outlining evidence when they'd rather be watching videos. Several of them are starting groups at their law schools. A baby born in March would just be creeping and crawling around. learning that she is separate from her parents. Our CEL "baby" certainly is becoming a force of her own!

Recognition & Media

We've been in the news media many times this year- from the ABA publications to Lawyers Weekly and MSNBC to Ode Magazine and more mentions in the blogosphere than we can keep up with. In 2009, the American Bar Association took note of the growth of our movement and asked me to write a book. The 450 page book, Lawyers as Peacemakers, will be out in April and it answers the questions that I'm asked most often - How do I do this? Where do I start? What is this all about?

In November, I was named by the ABA as one of the 50 Legal Rebels who are “finding new ways to practice law, represent their clients, adjudicate cases and train the next generation of lawyers,” http://www.legalrebels.com/profiles/j._kim_wright_collaborator

In 2009, besides the launch, the book and the Legal Rebels award, I somehow managed to lead and co-lead some collaborative law trainings and spoke a conference for the National Association of Women Judges. I worked with some amazing coaching clients. Michael and I attended conferences for restorative justice and holistic law, and I went to one on collaborative law, as well as the Uniform Law Commission's reading of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act. Our cups runneth over with inspiration and interviews!

Movement Milestone

The 10th Anniversary version of Steve Keeva's classic Transforming Practices was published by the ABA in December. http://www.abanet.org/abastore/index.cfm?section=main&fm=Product.AddToCa... Quick! Buy one for a holiday gift for yourself or someone else!

Personal Milestones: One Nomad Settles Down

Michael and I left Asheville, North Carolina in Spring of 2008 and I have been "location-independent" ever since. Location independent is the new buzz word for people who have no home and travel full-time. (I used to call it high-end homeless until I realized there was actually a movement of nomads!) We've met many other nomads on our adventures and on December 21, I will be the featured blogger at www.professionalhobo.com. Our stories will be told in various other upcoming publications, too. Michael and I were in 27 states and visited two dozen national parks and monuments along the way. It has been a transformational experience.

Last summer, we stopped in New Mexico to regroup, edit video, work on grant applications and write. New Mexico really is the Land of Enchantment and it enchanted Michael. There is a community there which embraced him immediately and loves him deeply. It is mutual. The jury is still out but he's trying out the possibility of living there permanently. When I left in October, Michael stayed in New Mexico. He will still travel to events and remains a very active partner in the business. Having him in a stable place to edit video is compatible with our 2010 plans. While the New Lawyer tour has ended for him, I will continue to travel for the next months, spending the winter in Key West then going back on the road when the book launches. I am both happy for Michael's discovery of home and wistful for my own. Some folks have expressed concern about this transition time and we appreciate their love for us. If anything, our friendship and partnership are stronger than ever. We're working out the long distance issues and had a very touching, heart-warming visit in December which included a business meeting which set our priorities for the next year.

Predictions for 2010:

We're planning to continue our themed home pages. The therapeutic jurisprudence page will be up there for a few more weeks while I transition to Key West and take some time off for the holidays. We have new content about Collaborative Law and Restorative Justice that will be featured in early 2010.

Some of our best content is still to come! We won't stop doing interviews but we've decided that we need to focus on the content we have for now. We want to create some compilations, short pieces, and continuing legal education programs. We expect to put together an impressive curriculum over the next year, with CLE credit for much of it. We will be working with bar associations and law schools to license some of the content for specific purposes.

We'll be adding Premium Member benefits including webinars and practice development courses. We expect Premium Members to get substantial discounts on the new courses and CLE.

My book will be out in April. We're planning a launch event in Tennessee and to attend the ABA ADR Section meeting in San Francisco. After that.......well, it is too soon to tell.

Thank you.

For all our paid members, sponsors, donors, benefactors, partners and friends who have supported this stage of our journey, we are deeply appreciative. The emotional and financial support have allowed us to continue our work. We couldn't have accomplished this without you.

New Sponsors

Welcome to Coach Moira McCaskill who is sponsoring our Coaching page! http://www.moiramccaskill.com/index.html Moira also contributed an article on the Enneagram to my book.

Year End Specials

To celebrate the new year, we're offering some specials. Our Premium Membership, with a full profile and blog space, regularly $150, is $99. I've added a Super Premium membership which combines the Premium Membership with two coaching sessions to jumpstart your practice for only $400. Our Page Sponsorships are still available for several topics and our Lifetime Founding Memberships are still open for only $1,000 a year or $100 a month for the next few weeks. And, finally, this is a great time to commit to coaching in 2010. My coaching prices are likely to go up when the book comes out but you can still get three calls a month for $500 a month and a 10% discount for three months paid in advance. Other packages are also available. For these deals and others, see:

http://www.cuttingedgelaw.com/page/special-offer-ends-december-31

Greetings

We wish you the very happiest of holiday seasons and a wonderful 2010. Blessings to you and your families. Come play with us as we transform lives, law practice, and the world in 2010!

Warmly,
Kim

J. Kim Wright, J.D.
Publisher & Managing Editor
www.CuttingEdgeLaw.com

1008 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur
Ste. A #197
Taos, NM 87571-5968
682-4-NEW-LAW
jkimwright@gmail.com