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42 ¦ JUNE 15, 2020 EXPERT OPINIONS

From a Distance, the Future of Law Is
Growing Clearer

By Mark Dubois

Some years ago, my office of Chief Disci-
plinary Counsel had a clinical relationship
with Yale Law School where we teamed
up our lawyers with a professor and some law
students who investigated, researched, negoti-
ated and either settled or prosecuted some of
our cases. During a meeting between a respon-
dent attorney and a lawyer from my office at
Yale, the respondent had a heart attack. Quite
shaken, the lawyer from my office called me.
I could hear the EMTs in the background do-
ing CPR. “What should I do?” he asked. “Well,
Frank”, I replied, “this is what we in education
call a teachable moment.” He went back and had CLT columnist and former state Chief Disciplinary
a discussion with the students about the stresses Counsel Mark Dubois.

of law practice, the need for balance, and not other than the talking head/PowerPoint slide
blaming themselves for a problem they hadn’t thing, it’s going to be a wonderful tool—though
created. if you can watch Irving Younger online, why ever
I was thinking of this “teachable moment” ped- watch me?
agogy as my colleagues and I at UConn reformed Student/teacher interaction, one-on-one coun-
our teaching modality in a matter of two weeks selling, and individualized feedback is now done
to accommodate the Coronavirus crisis. Jessica electronically. That’s also how I met with two
Rubin, director of the Legal Practice Department, of my doctors last week to debrief my COVID
quickly and brilliantly modified our syllabus to odyssey. Office visits are going to be more the ex-
allow the students to finish their semester using ception than the rule in many areas, including law.
e-platforms. A few weeks after we began, courts I’ve been remoting from home for years, and none
began to follow suit. of my clients have complained. Get used to it—It
The first challenge was reforming lecture class- works, and the ease, cost savings and convenience
es onto electronic meeting platforms. Distance are going to drive the reality that many of us are
learning, which had been used by some of my col- never going back to cubicles. Think of the savings
leagues to teach with a sister program in Korea but on office rent!
was far from the norm for most classes, is now the Doing this is one thing. Doing it well—develop-
new normal. It will remain so for many years to ing trust and rapport, and managing a productive
come as social distancing will restrict the number relationship through a computer platform—is
of students who can meet in a single room. Once going to take some effort. My guess is the next
we get into the 2.0 and 3.0 versions of the new vir- generation of law grads will be ready and well-
tual classrooms and learn how to do something equipped to work in your virtual firms.

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