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An idea struck Catherine Alman MacDonagh as she watched a young lawyer working on a team with IT personnel, partners, marketers in a training exercise. It was the first time the lawyer had worked on a cross-functional team at the firm. The internal silos had been taken down. Collaboration was happening before her eyes.

MacDonagh, CEO and Co-Founder at Legal Lean Sigma Institute in Boston, is widely respected as a Big Thinker. She has summoned together the leaders in legal marketing, administration, placement, IT and law libraries. The aim is to break down the walls between the organizations and cause a sea change.

The inspiration will come to life on Tuesday, June 5, in Chicago at the RainDance Conference hosted by the Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO). The invitation-only "Take The LEAD Summit" will assemble executives and board members from the:

• Association of Legal Administrators

LSSO’s RainDance will take place on June 5-6, 2012, at the Mid-America Club in Chicago. Register here.

• College of Law Practice Management
• International Legal Technology Association
• American Association of Law Libraries
• Professional Development Consortium
• National Association of Law Placement
• Legal Marketing Association
• LSSO

“It will be the beginning of a grand experiment,” Catherine said. “This is the first time all these leaders have come together. Just the fact that people are coming represents recognition that it’s time to do this. The purpose of bringing them together is to break down the functional silos.”

“Why couldn’t LSSO provide marketing assistance to all the other associations? Why are we trying to figure out technology panels at LMA? Why aren’t we taking each other’s content and putting in on our websites?  Why aren’t we leveraging each other as the fabulous resources we are?”

RainDance attendees will be the first to hear a report from the Summit. The details will also be made available for bloggers and the news media. Be there and here the news first hand.