Legal Upheaval: A guide to creativity, collaboration, and innovation in law by Michele DeStefano

We live in a hi-tech world where even the simple act of reading can depend on electronic devices. You catch the news on your mobile or tablet; reading for pleasure might mean a Kindle; and longer articles perhaps become ‘TL;DR’ because of service interruption. Imagine the pleasure then, of a picking up a book. Michele DeStefano’s 2018 hardback has been a constant travel companion and physical reminder of the nebulous world of legal innovation.

The old fashioned approach was something that came up time and again during the recent Legal Geek conference. The emphasis on the efficiently low-tech, e.g., post-it notes as a collaborative way of generating ideas has seen a revival at tech events. As the Times Law Blawg reported, Shmuli Goldberg of LawGeex said, ‘stop buying legal tech if you are just curious about it, but if you have a problem that needs resolving then do buy legal tech that will resolve it. You are then not just buying legal tech but resolving a problem’. So what is going on?

Heat

The scent of heat soaked masonry
Envelops you. Forming out of hot clay a
sense of time.
Kiln-like, the golden rocks stand against the blue sky
As permanent as Mary
As the resurrected cathedral
With the gold and blue finding a different kind of worship

The scent of heat soaked masculinity
Suffocates you. Forming out of muscle a

sense of beauty.
Godlike, the man stretches his lithe body upwards
As hard as rock
As the stone in the ancient buried city
With the flesh and blood creating a
Different kind of worship

Let me embrace the rock and the gold:
Sighing inwardly, wishing to be your mould.
To take you into the heat of the sun’s desire
Wanton I lie here and simply admire.

Of Croatian Beasts and London Artistic Feasts

'suspended'

It has been an orgy of art since I arrived back in London just over a week ago. Russian/Communism inspired exhibitions kicked off my visit as I enjoyed Red Star over Russia, Centre for Russian Music: Inside the Collections at the Barbican, and The Currency of Communism. There was no planning, just a desire to reacquaint myself with my favourite artistic haunts and, inevitably, connections started forming. Obviously I am catching the tail-end of exhibitions put on to commemorate the 1917 Russian Revolution, but it's always possible to see beyond the obvious.

A love letter to the books of Ljubljana

This piece came out of a month long stay in Ljubljana in October 2017. This is when I fell in love with this beautiful capital, its culture, architecture and people. I am happy to say that I am posting this whilst in the city again. They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but is it possible to judge a city by its bookshops?