Using Legal Design for Innovation in Law with Jon Henderson & Larissa Kruzel

Legal design offers lawyers the tools and mindset for legal innovation. Innovation allows lawyers to differentiate service offerings in a crowded marketplace. Law schools teach lawyers to identify problems and use precedent to provide solutions. But the real world requires lawyers to be in business. The client experience matters in business. Offering services that are different matters in business. Lawyers looking for how to operate as a business are able to use design thinking to provide the services that set the business apart. Polsinelli, a leading AMLaw 100 firm, uses legal design to innovate legal services in the lucrative healthcare mergers and acquisitions market and set the firm apart. 

Jon Henderson and Larissa Kruzel from Polsinelli joined Legal Design IRL to discuss design, innovation, and running a legal business. Jon is a Healthcare M&A Co-Chair in Polsinelli. He designs, implements, and closes deals in the healthcare services industry by taking into account not only traditional corporate and structuring considerations but also the additional layers of licensure, provider enrollment, and other regulatory-specific considerations that are part of executing regional and national transactions in the highly regulated health care industry. 

Jon is a student of disruptive innovation in healthcare services and applies those theories in conceptualizing and supporting our clients in designing and implementing new or evolving care delivery models.

As Polsinelli’s first Director of Practice Innovation, Larissa Kruzel is focused on the intersection between achieving the organization’s strategic vision and solving real complex business problems with creative and practical solutions. The Practice Innovation Department centers around client and lawyer experience, utilizing Design Thinking, Lean Six Sigma, StoryBrand, Project Management, and Change Management to enhance both.

Larissa has spent most of her professional career in the Project Management field. First, starting as an R&D scientist and project manager for a manufacturing company to working in AM Law 100 firms on various firm and client initiatives.

Watch now for a fresh perspective on legal innovation.

Key moments are listed below.

0:00 Introduction

3:00 Polsinelli and innovation

5:31 Legal design and how it’s used at Polsinelli

10:28 Human-centered process 

15:49 Design thinking and customer service

36:36 Future opportunities for design and innovation

43:43 Current projects 

48:21 Connect with Jon and Larissa

Legal Design IRL. Episode 63

I’m Hannele Korhonen, founder of Lawyers Design School, Contract Design School, and a live interview series called Legal Design IRL. I aim to support legal professionals on their journey toward more user-centered lawyering. 

Each week on IRL, I chat with innovators, pioneering change in the legal profession by reimagining legal services through design-led solutions, bringing clarity and understanding to complex legal matters, and building a more client-centric legal experience. It’s a refreshing opportunity to pause and reflect on your practice, gain fresh perspectives on serving clients better, and connect with a supportive community of like-minded professionals.

The workshops and courses we offer in the schools allow lawyers and other professionals to develop user-centered skills and mindsets, understand and address client needs effectively, and implement design-led approaches at their own pace. 

Together, we can create a legal system that is more user-centered, empathetic, and accessible to all.

If you enjoyed the talk, join me Live every Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET on LinkedIn. The chat is open.

Learn more about  Legal Design and Contract Design and how they can transform your work and career in the law. Courses are open now.

You can catch a replay of episode 63, Legal Design Thinking: IRL, or join me live next week and ask questions. 

Want to know more about the future of Legal Design?

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Prefer email? Drop me an email at [email protected]. While you’re here, peek at the Lawyers Design School and check out other ways to use legal design thinking to grow your law firm and thrive in your business.
Watch all the Legal Design IRL Episodes episodes.