Amani Smathers

We've had a number of guests from legal education who are helping law students find and forge alternative career paths that prioritize business skills alongside legal. Today's guest, Amani Smathers, is among the first generation of young lawyers to embark on one of these new—some might say non-traditional—career paths being forged. In fact, when Amani was still a law student, she introduced the industry to the concept of the T-shaped lawyer, which combines breadth in business skills with depth in legal knowledge. This idea has stuck and changed the discourse around lawyer professional skills development. Today, Amani is a senior practice innovations specialist on the Chapman Cutler Practice Innovations team focusing on process improvement, workflow management, and turning data into actionable insights. If that's not enough on her plate, Amani is also paying it forward as an adjunct professor at the Center for Law, Technology & Innovation at Michigan State University College of Law. She’s doing incredible, award-winning work, and Seyfarth is proud to call her an alum. Listen in as we talk about: - How free pizza changed the trajectory of her career. - How the concept of the T-shaped lawyer has evolved since 2014. - Why technology and process design are so important for access to justice.