Michele DeStefano

Experience

• 

  Leo Burnett

  Jan 1991 - Jan 1995

  Advertising Account Executive/Assistant Account Executive

  Kellogg® Account GroupAnalyzed sales, consumer trends and competition to develop marketing strategies. Led production of three $25MM+ advertising campaigns by overseeing research, media, legal, publicity and creative teams. Created new product idea and positioning, "Wild Pop-Tarts."

• 

  Levi Strauss & Co.

  Jan 1995 - Jan 1998

  Senior Marketing Manager/Marketing Manager

  Managed the strategic development of marketing programs to build brand equity among consumers. Led retail, sales, advertising agency, direct-to-consumer and on-line digital marketing teams. Developed and implemented direct mail program that attained industry record response (25%). Helped identify key product trend, “wide leg jeans.” Formulated strategy for LS&Co. trademark protection advertising.

• 

  Chambers of the Honorable William G. Young, U.S. Chief District Judge (D.Mass.)

  Jan 2003 - Dec 2003

  Law Clerk

  Researched and wrote bench memoranda prior to oral arguments on dispositive motions. Assisted in drafting opinions and orders. Mentored law-school interns working in chambers. Contributed to cases involving patent law, criminal law, RICO, ERISA, products liability, habeas corpus, and arbitration law.

• 

  Federal District Court of Massachusetts

  Jan 2004 - Oct 2004

  Court Appointed Special Master (FRCP 53)

  Appointed, at the approval of the parties, to assist the Court in research, analysis and drafting the opinion in patent case: Amgen Inc. v. Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc., 339 F. Supp. 2d 202 (D. Mass. 2004)

• 

  Harvard Law School

  Jul 2006 - Jul 2009

  Teach legal research and writing to class of 40 first-year students: topics include legal memoranda, trial briefs, appellate briefs, and oral argument. Develop lecture materials and writing assignments; train students for and judge appellate moot court; train and manage multiple teaching assistants Collaborated with Research Director to conceive, develop, finance, and execute research programs. Hired and supervised fellows and research assistants. Interviewed 35+ General Counsels of S&P 500 companies, to learn how they hire, fire, and manage outside counsel. Analyzed and reported results. Helped design quantitative survey for General Counsels.

  • Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law

    Jul 2007 - Jul 2009

  • Associate Research Director Center For Lawyers and Professional Services (Program on the Legal Prof)

    Jul 2006 - Jul 2007
• 

  University of Miami

  Jul 2009 - now

  Professor of Law & The Larry Hoffman Greenberg Traurig Business of Law Chair

  I research and write about the growing intersections between law, business, and legal innovation. My book Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation in Law leverages over 100 interviews of General Counsels of large international corporations and Heads of Innovation at law firms. Her other book, New Suits: Appetite for Disruption in the Legal World (co-curated with Dr. Guenther Dobrauz) includes chapters by experts in law, innovation, and technology to provide a global perspective on the future of legal service delivery ecosystem. Other recent scholarship focuses on the changing role of the compliance officer and is based on interviews of over 70 general counsels and chief compliance officers of S&P 500 corporations (featured in Harvard Law School's The Practice). Additionally, I have written articles and chapters in books about innovation and entrepreneurship, collaboration and culture creation, compliance and ethics, litigation funding, the role of the general counsel and the court of public opinion, legal education, technology and law, the work product doctrine and the attorney client privilege. (see www.movelaw.com/writing for a list of articles). Show less

• 

  LawWithoutWalls

  Feb 2010 - now

  Founder

  LawWithoutWalls ("LWOW") is a part-virtual global collaboratory of 1500+ change agents dedicated to changing how lawyers and business professionals partner to solve problems. LWOW teams 100 students from 35+ law and business schools around the world with mentors form the academic, business, and legal, fields. Over four months, teams identify a pressing issue in legal practice or education and create a business plan for a solution (often a legal startup) to address the problem. LWOW begins with a KickOff event that includes interactive exercises aimed at fostering idea generation, teaming, self-assessment, presentation, and communication skills. Subsequently, utilizing cutting-edge video technology, the participants gather weekly online to debate hot issues at the intersection of law, business, and technology while simultaneously working on their business plans. The LWOW experience concludes at the ConPosium, an interactive event where teams showcase their solutions to a panel of multi-disciplinary judges, including venture capitalists, who assess the substance, viability, and creativity of the projects Show less

• 

  BlackRobe Capital

  Aug 2011 - Dec 2012

  Strategic Advisor/Consultant

  Consult on compliance and ethical issues related to litigation finance such as attorney-client privilege, work-product doctrine, maintenance, champerty, and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

• 

  University of St. Gallen, Executive School of Management, Technology & Law

  Aug 2014 - Nov 2019

  Board Member, Law & Management Group of Experts

  As a board member, I help check, provide feedback and advise on the strategic development of the school's Law & Management division and deliver insight into selected research and teaching topics of special interest for the Law & Management programs.

• 

  Compliance Elliance Journal "CEJ"

  Aug 2015 - now

  Co-Founder + Content Curator

  Compliance Elliance Journal (CEJ) is an open access e-journal that publishes engaging authors'​ works about cutting edge issues in compliance. We include works of various lengths from any interested practitioners, academics or students. Our goal is to make compliance accessible by connecting people from around the world who want to share their experiences and innovative ideas with others. It is with great pleasure that we announce the publication of the inaugural edition of CEJ. Global Corporations in a World of Local Market Specifics: How to Create a 'Glocal'​ Identity of Compliance is now available to view in HTML or download as PDF. This edition includes works from Peter Kurer, John Giraudo, Theodore Banks, Thomas Fox, Marcia Narine, Folker Bittmann, and Amir Singh Dhillon. Each piece explores an issue relevant to our main theme: the role globality plays in today's compliance world. CEJ is more than a journal. We encourage the participation of our readers because our goal is to start a global conversation about compliance. We are thrilled to present these pieces that comprise our first edition and welcome your comments. Show less

• 

  Harvard Law School

  Aug 2015 - now

  • Visiting Professor

    Jan 2023 - now

  • Program Chair & Affiliated Faculty Harvard Law School Executive Education

    Mar 2013 - now

  • Affiliated Faculty: Center the Legal Profession

    Jul 2007 - now

  • Visiting Professor of Law, Visiting Faculty Lead, Center on the Legal Profession

    Aug 2015 - Aug 2016
• 

  MoveLaw

  Jan 2016 - now

  Founder

  MoveLaw (www.movelaw.com): Keynotes, Workshops and programs designed to change culture and help lawyers learn to be more creative, collaborative, and innovative so that they better partner with their clients to find and creatively solve problems. Portions of proceeds help fund LawWithoutWalls.

• 

  Kormoon

  Jan 2016 - Jan 2022

  Global Advisory Board Member

  Advisory board member for Kormoon, a company that harnesses AI to provide more effective means of legal advice to help the way you engage with your legal teams.

• 

  Elevate Services

  Jan 2018 - Jan 2021

  Advisory Board Member

  Board member to Elevate Services, a law company that provides consulting, technology and services to legal departments and law firms, offering practical ways to improve efficiency, quality and outcomes.

• 

  Council of Business Partners in the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice

  Feb 2018 - Jan 2020

  Member

  Member of the Council of Business Partners of the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice. The Council's goal is to help and advise members of the Access Commission in addressing the civil legal needs of disadvantaged, low- and moderate-income Floridians.

• 

  Digital Legal Exchange

  Jan 2019 - now

  Lead Faculty Advisor & Co-creator

  Digital Legal Exchange is a global institute of leading thinkers and doers from academia, business, government, technology and law, committed to accelerating digital transformation. Our non-profit community shares practical and applied learnings to inspire general counsel and their teams to become digital leaders in their businesses to drive commercial value.