Law School Launches Program to Retrain Legal Industry

The billable hour isn’t dead, but as more corporate counsel demand alternative fee arrangements with their outside law firms, the folks at Suffolk Law School are already thinking about its failing health.

Next year, the Boston-based law school will begin offering an online certificate program in Legal Innovation and Technology that aims to prepare industry professionals for an era when billing on an hourly basis is no longer the norm.

“What we’re really trying to do is expose people to new concepts and engage people in a new kind of issue spotting,” said Suffolk’s Dean Andrew Perlman. “If they’re involved ...