Michele DeStefano

Michele DeStefano is the founder of LawWithoutWalls (LWOW), a professor of law at the University of Miami, and affiliated faculty at Harvard Law School’s Executive Education Program. LWOW is the culmination of Michele’s passion for law, education, collaboration, and innovation, topics on which she presents regularly as a speaker at law firms, corporations, and legal organizations. Recognized by the ABA as a Legal Rebel and by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers (North America) as one of the top 20 most innovative lawyers, Michele creates bespoke, experiential-learning programs grounded in design thinking to transform how legal professionals collaborate and create culture change. A former advertising and marketing executive, Michele takes a multidisciplinary approach. She has researched and written extensively about the growing intersections between law, business, and innovation. The topics of her scholarship include the role of the general counsel in managing the court of public opinion, compliance, litigation funding, and the need for opening up the walls of law to enhance innovation. She has recently published two books. Her book, “Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation in Law,” leverages more than 100 interviews with general counsels at international corporations and heads of innovation at law firms. The other book, “New Suits: Appetite for Disruption in the Legal World,” (co-curated with Dr. Guenther Dobrauz) provides a global perspective on the future of the legal service delivery ecosystem by providing chapters written by experts from all over the world. Michele earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Dartmouth and J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School.