Update on Lawyers as Peacemakers Conference and Leadership Summit

My last post about the conference created quite a buzz.  I've had many follow-up conversations about the conference and the Leadership Summit.  Many of you have told me that you are coming.  Some even told me their flight details.  When I looked at the registration list, not all of your names were there.   (For those who did register, thanks!)  Some of you told me you were still trying to decide and you wanted to wait a bit.  Later has arrived.

January 31 (Thursday) is the early registration deadline.  Registering early does several things:  it saves you some money.  We can all use that, especially these days. 

Registering early sets you in motion to clear your calendar, make your reservations, and to have everything lined up for the best trip you can have.

It also helps the conference committee plan. I am a member of the conference committee. Have you ever planned a conference?  There are so many deadlines.  We will be able to better estimate the number of hotel rooms we need for out of town guests and let any extras go or request more.  We will order food based on a better estimate of attendance. We will actually have enough finger food at the reception and enough coffee at the continental breakfast. We'll know how many name tags to get.  Most importantly, the budget committee will be able to sleep at night, knowing the bills are going to be paid. 

By now, you know that you're going, right?  Some of you have called to say that you knew it the moment you read about it.  So, please register.

More Info About the Conference:

The registration link, rates, hours, hotel information, and many of the presenter bios are posted on the website which is www.phoenixlaw.edu/lawyersaspeacemakers

In short, it starts Friday evening, February 22 and runs through early afternoon on Sunday, February 24. Some people have asked if they should come for all the conference - YES!  You don't want to miss anything, do you?  It is going to be awesome, a feast for the lawyer's soul, an opportunity to gather, hear inspiring speakers, and get practical tips you can start using right away to be more effective as a lawyer.  Some of them can even help you make more money.  In Arizona, the conference is worth 12 CLE credits and many states have reciprocity or will honor that determination.  The costs are very low - the highest registration fee for early registration is $125 and you may even qualify for a lower rate.  

The conference is being held at the Phoenix School of Law (PSL), downtown Phoenix. It is on the light rail line, as is the hotel we've chosen. Please make your own hotel reservations and if staying at the conference hotel (link) tell them you are with PSL.

The conference website is expanding every day with more information.  The full program with more details will be up soon.  As the member of the program committee who is having conversations with the presenters and firming up the content, I can say that I am more inspired with each conversation.

John Faris of the University of South Africa Centre for African Dispute Resolution has confirmed that he is attending. Our other speakers are impressive, but then, so are our participants.  We've confirmed that Alex Lohman is coming from the Netherlands.  There is a certain lawyer in the UK who knows she is supposed to be here and is making arrangements.  (No names.)  We have people coming from Ohio, Washington, Colorado, Virginia, California, New Mexico and many other places. We will truly be international.  The locals in Phoenix are amazing, inspiring people and they will be there, too. (For example, I think the Arizona bar has a record number of certified yoga teachers.)

The Leadership Summit

I confess.  We hate to say no.  We are an inclusive movement and we like to walk our talk.  So, our committee met to consider the applications and decided that everyone who feels called to be at the Leadership Summit is invited to attend.  The Summit will begin right after the last conference event.  It will run through Monday at noon. 

 We have some guidelines:

We're a group of leaders who want to transform the law. It is a mission of hands, hearts and minds, working together. We want to support each other.  On one hand, we ask you check your egos and personal marketing at the door; on the other, it doesn't mean you can't talk about what you do when what you do is about transforming law. We intend that this a safe zone in which thought leaders can work together, collaboratively, as equal members of a team, to brainstorm where we might go in the future, without feeling that anyone is there to promote a particular product or way of doing something. We're not in competition, we are in collaboration and cooperation. We expect you to be a responsible adult and to check to see if you're focused more on self-promoting or movement-promoting and shift gears, if necessary.   

We really prefer that everyone in the Summit attend the whole conference.  We'll use the conference to deepen the conversation about what our movement is and to get to know each other, before we start working on strategies on Sunday afternoon.  If you just absolutely cannot be at the conference but are called to be at the leadership summit, please talk to one of the organizers about how you can integrate yourself into the community as seamlessly as possible.

There are a couple of leaders who are not lawyers but are closely related to this movement. We've invited them to join us, to bring their interdisciplinary knowledge to the table as we move forward. There may even be friendly media people there.

If you are called to be at the summit and have not yet applied, please let us know to expect you. For you and everyone else, we are creating a registration page.   We will post when it is available, within a few days.

Expectations for the Summit:

The Leadership Summit is a last minute add-on.  We won't be covering meals or snacks, but will likely go eat as a group, or in small groups. 

A few people have asked what we are going to do in the summit.  First, it is an organic process.  Anything could unfold during the conference and with a group of leaders, we might design a number of different models.  If I had to predict, I would say that we are going to get the community organized.  We're at a new level of growth and many of the people I talk to regularly, have said that they think we are near a tipping point. What will it take for us to fully bring our work into the mainstream of law? How do we support each other in a new paradigm of law? How do we walk the talk of collaboration and cooperation?

We've had some ideas that may be on the table. Some are about getting support and some are about providing it.  Some of the questions include:  is there a publicist for the movement lurking, someone who can get us all into the news?   is there someone who would want to run a speaker's bureau for the leaders of the movement? how can we share forms and other resources in an open-source setting that empowers us all?  who wants to write for bar journals and legal news? where can we have regular columns? where can we get support to continue on our path when the going gets tough? who are the experts on xyz? does anyone have access to grant funds to help us get organized? how can we best stay informed and stay connected?  what do I need? what can I provide?

Some of the answers to the questions will be reflected in the renovation and redesign of Cutting Edge Law as we become a family of related sites. More about all that at a different time.

In closing, it has been a great honor to work with the planning committee at Phoenix School of Law.  The freely expressed love and admiration on the committee is a model and firm foundation for the conference.  

I do hope you can join us!

Love,

Kim

PS: If I still haven't answered all your questions, jot me an email at jkimwright@gmail.com or give me a call at 682 463 9529.  I'll be happy to have a one-on-one conversation with you.