Document Type
Article
Media Type
text
Publication Title
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Abstract
A heighted velocity of change enveloped the legal profession over the last three decades. From big law to rural practitioners, the traditional law firm model of billing time by the hour proved ripe for disruption. Technological advances automated many once-billable activities; enhanced client sophistication and cost-consciousness restricted law firm revenue by imposing billing guidelines and alternative fee arrangements; clients increasingly retain legal work in-house; and global competition allowed legal services to be disaggregated and outsourced to the lowest cost provider. The net effect of this disruption is reflected in the revenue of the legal services sector, which adjusted for inflation, remains static at 1990s levels. Simply billing more hours is a limited solution, as revealed by the stress test the COVID-19 pandemic, which rattled lawyers mental and physical well-being and recalibrated many lawyers’ perspectives on their work-life balance. In the face of stagnant revenues, rapid systemic changes including the burgeoning revolution of artificial intelligence, and competition from near and far, law firms need creative innovation. Rather than turning to creative talent from outside the legal services industry, as some scholarship advocates, this Article proposes that legal education can teach students to serve as creative catalysts for innovation.
The Article examines the creative process through the lens of human evolution and modern neuroscience. The rapid evolutionary growth of the human brain allows it to process an unprecedented volume of sensory data. Neuroscience reveals creativity to be a dynamic whole-brain experience as neurons connect promiscuously and regions engage in widespread interaction and sweeping collaboration. But the brain evolved to be ruthlessly efficient, so routines and repetition quash creativity. Thus, creativity flourishes between the routine and overwhelming novelty. Likewise, a wide swath of individual and societal factors can positively spur or inhibit creativity. This Article proposes that creativity can thrive in the law school curriculum, and in particular, the legal writing and clinical classroom by teaching creatively, providing divergent learning opportunities, and cultivating an environment conducive to creativity. Simply, law students need to enter the practice not just prepared to think, write, and speak like a lawyer, but also with a healthy curiosity and a wellspring of creativity.
First Page
194
Last Page
245
Publication Date
5-1-2025
Department
College of Law
Recommended Citation
Dykstra, Jason G.
(2025)
"Teaching the Arc of Electric Spark: Igniting Curiosity, Creativity, and Innovation Throughout the Law School Curriculum,"
Northern Illinois University Law Review: Vol. 45:
Iss.
2, Article 5.
Suggested Citation
Jason G. Dykstra, Teaching the Arc of Electric Spark: Igniting Curiosity, Creativity, and Innovation Throughout the Law School Curriculum, 45 N. Ill. Univ. L. Rev. 194 (2025).
