Innovation Sprints

Having worked closely with Jen Leonard at the Future of the Profession Initiative, I have been continually impressed by her creative, and forward-thinking approach to guide organizations into the future of the legal profession. Jen is a change-agent for the legal industry. She is an original thinker, able to analyze industry trends and devise creative solutions. She is also a natural facilitator and collaborator, adept at bringing together diverse viewpoints and fostering constructive dialogue. I can’t think of a better strategic advisor for any law firm, law school, or other legal organization as it reimagines its future. I will be finding every single way I can to continue to learn from and collaborate with Jen.

Jen and I bonded during the pandemic over our shared passion for creativity, innovation, and making more rapid progress in updating the way lawyers serve clients. Since then, we’ve worked together to design two different projects–McKinsey Legal’s first Legal Innovation Competition and Goodwin’s inaugural “Generation AI” Summer Associate Innovation Challenge. Jen designed both programs with education, impact, and engagement top of mind. In each case, participants emerged from the program feeling energized, equipped with new mindsets and techniques for stimulating creativity across teams and generations.
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Jen is the rare person who understands the barriers to innovation in legal, approaches to change used in other fields that break through those impediments, and how to craft and deliver engaging content that gets everyone involved. We also have a blast working together–I can’t wait to do it again!

Jen has a profound grasp of the challenges that we face in the legal profession and the need for developing innovative solutions and approaches to meet those challenges.  From working with her, I have been impressed with her ability to look at developments and innovations in other industries to inform how legal organizations can be nimble, responsive, and innovative.  She is a leader and a motivator.  Indeed, those skills, combined with her knowledge of the legal industry and cross-disciplinary approach, enable her to inspire teams to collaborate, build skills, and embrace a mindset that will promote innovation and  help future-proof any organization.  I am proud to call her a thought partner and a visionary.

Working with Jen Leonard is an incredible experience.  She is a creative and innovative thinker, and delivered well beyond my (high) expectations on a recent program that she spearheaded for the firm. Feedback from the program participants was universally stellar.  Jen is an engaging speaker and an inspiring teacher, and I very much look forward to working with her again.

The legal industry is moving into the modern era whether we practitioners like it or not.  Jen not only understands this deeply, but is working hard every day to make the transition smooth for the many stakeholders whose lives will be disrupted.  More than simply reducing risk, Jen also sees the promise and opportunity that legal innovation can provide to the wildly underserved consumers of legal services.  Her work at Penn Carey Law School has drawn on insights from various academic disciplines (psychology, engineering and medicine) to inform and inspire the next generation of lawyers to think more broadly about what it means to solve legal problems. She’s also a very good friend and human being.

I have worked with Jen over the past few years, and in that time, she has become an indispensable collaborator in the work I do around human-centered design, design thinking, and innovation. The way she uses her knowledge, background and experience to engage with students and professionals alike is something I wish all educators could embody.
Most recently, she taught an ideation session at our Summer Innovation Institute focused on health equity. The attendees were absolutely blown away by her session; they not only learned new skills but had fun in the process. She is truly a leader in this space and is helping to infuse creativity and innovation into all professions not just law.

Jen’s credentials and expertise, coupled with her ability to think creatively and collaboratively about solutions that resonate for her clients, make Jen an invaluable resource. Her facilitation of educational workshops is deeply engaging, insightful and clear. She is a skillful moderator, facilitator and trainer, who leverages her warmth and ability to connect with people in her teaching style. Jen is bar none, one of the best facilitators and consultants I have had the pleasure of working with.  I very much look forward to working with Jen and Creative Lawyers again.

I cannot speak highly enough about Jen’s ability to seamlessly facilitate an engaging and impactful hybrid/virtual workshop. She has a knack for breaking down barriers in a room and quickly getting down to business in a relatable, interesting, inspiring, thought-provoking, and very practical way. Jen is artful in her ability to engage all participants and deliver content that inspires creativity and innovation in a time when those two things are needed more than ever in the legal industry.
“Relevant, Engaging, Effective and Awesome!” And, “Loved EVERYTHING about Jen’s workshop” were just a few of the rave reviews our global team of high achievers had to say about Jen. She is a rare gem in this industry and brings a fresh approach to solving current issues in Big Law and in Life. Should you have the opportunity to work with Jen – take it!