5 minute read
The Legal Sculptor: How Lawyers Can Embrace Creativity in the Practice of Law
Creativity has been defined as the ability to generate ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, entertaining, and communicating with others.1 The notion of recognizing alternatives and possibilities to solve problems may align with the role of a lawyer, however creativity is associated with rule breaking and the law has been, of course, about rule following.2 Historically, the legal profession has an aversion to risk and a need for certainty – many features that do not bode well with creativity.3 After all, lawyers are left brain thinkers: logical, rigid, and analytical. The concept of thinking outside of the box can be discomforting to lawyers as they are trained to believe that one should not go beyond the framework of the law.4
While skillful legal analysis is essential for effective advocacy, advocacy requires more than just the ability to associate facts with legal elements.5 Lawyers need to be able to perceive and interpret reality, and then use all the tools available to achieve their goals through conventional and unconventional methods.6 While a painter is limited by the physical framework of a canvas, they still see endless possibilities with a palette of many colors.7
Imagination and creativity are core aspects of human development. We are taught to assess, process, reflect, and imagine from an early age. Often presumed to be a magical superpower, creativity can be anything that allows the mind to expand to new ideas and alternatives with focus and concentration. Sculptures, in particular, are works made with great intentionality as any slip in concentration can cause the work product to falter.8 A sculptor’s lack of rigidity opens the door to a form of mystery and aesthetic pleasure.9 Lawyers, sculptors of their own craft, chip away at the written form by chopping off fat and insignificant language. Similar to a painter, lawyers advocate by taking on the artist’s mantel and becoming verbal and written painters of significant moments in their client’s dramas.10 After all, lawyers are storytellers and narrators of their client’s tales of conflict.11 By reframing an unfavorable fact, drafting a persuasive argument, or interpreting precedent in a novel way, the legal craftsperson allows the law to serve as an effective guidepost for creative flexibility.12
Legal drafting becomes art when it succinctly meets the client’s needs yet remains faithful to the established framework.13 In songwriting, a blues songwriter understands the typical conventions of a 12-bar measure, yet has the flexibility to intertwine their unique message into a traditional musical structure.14 Moreover, a business attorney’s overall goal may be to form a limited liability company and draft an operating agreement. While the operating agreement has a foundation built by state law, the attorney can incorporate the client’s needs in a cohesive manner that’s easily digestible to the business owner.15 The organization of the in-house legal department also lends an arm to creativity from interactions with other departments, mediating inner company conflicts, management of outside counsel, and mastering communication channels that may be atypical from conventional practice. At the end of the day, the best lawyer artisan allows the law to serve as a landmark for opportunity and value creation.16
Lawyers need to be able to reflect on the why of their work and how they are adding value to better utilize their skills in daily practice. Similar to an artist, lawyers have to pay close attention to detail and remember that part what they are doing is not merely interpreting the world, but re-interpreting it to further the interests of the client.17 As sculpture has the ability to re-
invent itself over time, the legal profession has the ability to evolve. Instead of considering the role as immutable, the practice of law can be easily explored through creativity without falling victim to conformity or the need to change career paths.
Footnotes
1 Robert E. Franken, Human Motivation (1994).
2 Alexander Carter, Creativity in the Law, CareerDesignStudio.Buffalo.Edu (June 16, 2020), https://careerdesignstudio.buffalo. edu/blog/2022/09/06/ Creativity-in-the-law/
3 Christophe Collard & Mark Raison, Facets of Legal Creativity: Innovation in Law and Creativity Within the Legal Profession (2021).
4 Roger I. Abrams, The Lawyer as an Artist.
14 Nova L. Rev. 2 (1990).
5 Id.
6 Id.
7 Id.
8 Simon Wallis, Object Lessons at the Hepworth Wakefield: the importance of sculpture, The Guardian (October 22, 2016), https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/22/object-lessons-atthe-hepworth-wakefield-the-importanceof-sculpture
9 Id.
10 James Parry Eyster, Lawyer as Artist: Using Significant Moments and Obtuse Objects to Enhance Advocacy, The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute, Vol. 14, p. 87 (2008).
11 Id.
12 Kathleen Elliott Vinson, Samantha Alexis Moppett, and Shailini George, Mindful Lawyering: The Key to Creative Problem Solving (2018); Brian Grossman, Legally Creative: Why Being a Lawyer Requires Abstract Thought, Above the Law (January 11, 2019), https://abovethelaw.com/2019/01/ legally-creative-why-being-a-lawyerrequires-abstract-thought/; see also James Parry Eyster, supra note x.
13 Elizabeth Whitman, The Art of Legal Drafting, JD Supra (January 21, 2019), https:// www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-art-oflegal-drafting-63090/
14 Id.
15 Id.
16 Roger I. Abrams, supra note iv.
17 Rachel Reed, The Art of Being a Lawyer, Harvard (May 5, 2021), https://hls.harvard. edu/today/the-art-of-being-a-lawyer/
