Program Chair: Impactful Leadership: Enhancing your Strategic Influence
Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law
Founder and Director of LawWithoutWalls, MoveLaw, and the Compliance Elliance Journal
Visiting Faculty, Harvard Law School
Michele DeStefano is a highly innovative and accomplished legal professional with a passion for creative problem-solving, collaboration, culture change, and innovation in law. As a Professor of Law at the University of Miami, visiting faculty member at Harvard Law School, and a Program Chair in Harvard Law School’s Executive Education Program, Michele is an internationally recognized thought leader who has been named a Legal Rebel by the ABA and one of the top 20 most innovative lawyers in North America by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers.
Michele is the founder of LawWithoutWalls, a community of over 2,000 lawyers, business professionals, entrepreneurs, and students who collaborate to create innovations in the business of law and develop new mindsets and skillsets. She is also the co-creator of the Digital Legal Exchange, a non-profit that aims to inspire general counsel and their teams to become digital leaders in their businesses to drive commercial value.
With her extensive research and writing on topics such as client-centricity, collaboration, and innovation in law, Michele has authored multiple books, including Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation in Law, New Suits: Appetite for Disruption. She has two new books set to publish in Fall 2023/Winter 2024: Leader Upheaval: A Guide to Culture Creation, Client Centricity, and Collaboration, and the accompanying handbook: The Leader Upheaval Handbook: Lead Teams on a Innovation & Collaboration Journey with The 3-4-5 Method(™). Her latest articles include Chicken or Egg: Diversity and Innovation in the Corporate Legal Marketplace, 91 Fordham Law Review 1209 (2023) and Don’t Let the Digital Tail Wag the Transformation Dog: A Digital Transformation Roadmap for Corporate Counsel, 17 Journal of Business and Technology Law, Volume, 183 (2022). Her latest books include Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation in Law and New Suits: Appetite for Disruption.
Michele earned her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Dartmouth College and her Juris Doctorate degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. Michele is a visionary who is dedicated to leading the way in transforming the professional services industry. She frequently speaks and runs workshops on creative problem solving, collaboration, client-centricity, communication, personal branding, and innovation. For more information visit movelaw.com or micheledestefano.com.