On January 14-15, 2017, Professor Ray Campbell and STL students Deng Zhicong (3L), Li Yidan (3L) and Zhou Yibin (3L) attended the “LawWithoutWalls” Kickoff at Harvard Law School. STL students Su Rina (3L) and Wang Wei (2L) also participated in the LWOWx online program.
More than 100 students from 30 top law schools and business schools around the world, including Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School and Wharton Business School, participated in the program. STL has been a participant in LWOW since the first session in 2010, and is the only school from eastern Asia ever selected to participate. Lawyers, law professors, in-house counsel, journalists, business people, and capital investors also participated in the program as mentors and team leaders. Student participants were assigned to 16 teams. Different teams were assigned different law-business-technology collaboration topics, such as artificial intelligence, legal education, and law firm management.
The two-day kickoff included a series of events, such as team exploration, improv + corporate communication, idea inspiration, startup pitch to VC, Hackathon, and other programs. In the Hackathon, teams were asked to identify a problem and develop a business plan of an assigned topic and then present it.
Deng Zhicong said of his experience, “LWOW opened a new world for me. It has helped me to keep an open mind and an open heart. I got to know more about leading-edge technology and increase my business sense. Throughout the kick-off, I worked closely with my teammates from Harvard Law School and Columbia Law School. The experience strengthened my skills related to project management, effective communication and teamwork.”
Li Yidan said, “LWOW is at the forefront of global collaboration. I have been working on my LWOW project since January with 12 other team members, team leaders, topic experts and advisors from Miami, Mexico City, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris, Hamburg, and London. Each one of us brings our unique set of skills and experience to the table. Each individual is then armed with a pool of resources. This pool empowers me and demands me to push my limit.”
“The kickoff at Harvard Law School was a fantastic experience. The informative speeches on cutting-edge issues presented by the HLS Dean and faculty, the collaborative team building challenges, and the innovative trainings offered by the LWOW team have benefited my intercultural communication skills and vision enormously,” said Zhou Yibin.
2L student Wang Wei participated in the LWOWx online project. She said of her experience, “LWOW is a new challenge. I learned how to engage more effectively online, how to adapt to huge time differences among multiple time-zones, and how to adjust to different learning styles and manner of expression among teammates from different countries.”
LawWithoutWalls aims to create a global, transdisciplinary think-tank around technology, innovation, and law; to accelerate practicable innovations at the intersection of business, law, and technology; to hone critical twenty-first century professional services skills; and to cultivate collaborative relationships with clients, internal colleagues, and future talent from countries around the globe.
STL’s LWOW participants will continue to develop their business plans and work with their teammates remotely before meeting again in person at the University of Miami School of Law in April 2017.
