David Gross Talks to The Am Law Litigation Daily About Design Thinking and Faegre Drinker’s Design Lab

Intellectual property partner David Gross talked to The Am Law Litigation Daily about the Design Lab’s recently published e-book, “Design Thinking and Visual Advocacy for Lawyers,” and about developing Faegre Drinker’s Design Lab.

In the article, “‘Start at the End’: A Design Thinking and Visual Advocacy Tutorial with Faegre Drinker’s David Gross,” the publication asks Gross about how he got interested in design thinking and how he and Design Lab cofounders Kate Razavi and Helen Chacon built credibility on the topic.

The article also highlights how design thinking applies to litigators and their practice. Gross shares how empathy is critical to design thinking and how, in legal issues, the process of figuring out who you are trying to be empathetic with takes time and practice. He also notes how, for lead trial lawyers, finding the balance of when to be a top-down decision maker and when to apply the more democratic practices of design thinking can be very effective.

Lastly, Gross discusses the firm’s support of building up Faegre Drinker’s design program. “Our firm really tries to encourage entrepreneurialism and encourage people to take chances and wants people to try things,” said Gross. He added that another reason they continue to see support is because “clients love it. Organizations love it. And we’ve already demonstrated some effectiveness.”