Pamela Morgan is one of the world's foremost attorneys in the emergent field of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and the blockchain technology that publicly tracks every exchange of digital money.

Her expertise didn't come about by accident.

The 2006 alumna of Wayne State University Law School was speaking at a conference, "Disrupt, Startup, Scaleup," in Greece in late 2013. Until then, her legal practice was focused on advising small businesses, and she also taught business law and entrepreneurship. At the conference, tech-entrepreneur Andreas M. Antonopoulos spoke about bitcoin.

"During the talk, I remember thinking, 'If half of what this guy is saying is true, this technology might actually change the world!' Yes, I'm one of those people who wants to change the world. It's one of the reasons I went to law school."

Morgan, who earned a bachelor's degree in business administration at Davenport University with a concentration in computer programming, began to teach herself about digital currencies.

"I studied bitcoin like I was studying for the bar exam," she said. "For the next two months, I spent all of my free time devouring everything I could find about the technology and its implications for law and society. In early 2014, I left my full-time, salaried position in education to build a career in this industry. Though at the time it was scary, I've never regretted that decision. In fact, it's been one of the best choices I've made, both in terms of quality of work and quality of life."

Morgan, who has been a solo practitioner since 2006, founded Empowered Law PLLC in the Chicago area in 2014, and continues her work there. In 2015, she founded Third Key Solutions LLC - "a boutique key consulting and management firm."

Third Key works with companies involved with digital currencies. Morgan is its CEO. She's also a board member and director of education with the CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium, a nonprofit industry standards group; and an unpaid advisor to the BitGive Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to "leverage the power of bitcoin and blockchain technology to improve public health and the environment worldwide."

Third Key is highly selective when it comes to accepting clients and projects.

"I'm in the fortunate position of turning away work on a daily basis," Morgan said. "I simply cannot keep up with demand, which affords me the luxury of being highly selective. The decision of who I work with is completely subjective. I'm looking for a good fit on both sides in terms of needs, skills, personalities, communication style and values. Additionally, when I'm interviewing organizational clients, they must demonstrate that they are driven by more than profits and that they have developed some method of giving back to the community."

What's the advantage of bitcoin over more conventional currency that so inspires Morgan and a rapidly growing number of others?

"Here's an example of how we are using this technology to solve a real world problem - disappearing funds in charitable organizations," Morgan said. "Our current system regulates banking and charities fairly robustly, and yet we know that money somehow seems to disappear from charity coffers, especially when it moves between organizations or across borders."

She spoke of the BitGive Foundation and its project, GiveTrack, as an example of solving that problem with cryptocurrency and blockchain tracking.

"The concept is simple," Morgan said. "Since all transactions on the bitcoin blockchain are public, we can create software to track them. If we use bitcoin to transfer funds from a known entity, like BitGive in the U.S., to a known entity that happens to be across a border, like The Water Project in Kenya, the entire world can literally watch the funds move across borders in real-time, with no possibility of lost funds, skimming or bribery. We can see when the Water Project spends the funds they've received.

"No auditors required. No regulators or special laws required. This is an example of how we can use this technology to prevent bad actors from intervening, instead of trying to discover the crime and chase down the criminal after they've skimmed the funds. Now imagine how that kind of radical transparency can change the world of charitable giving!"

Bitcoin's blockchain technology - a synchronized ledger database whose data is independently validated, distributed and shared throughout the network - has only existed since late 2008. And it's rapidly evolving.

"One day in this industry is like a week or a month in others," Morgan said. "Honestly, it's difficult to keep up even for someone like me who is immersed in the area. That said, I love the fast pace."

She runs a series of workshops for lawyers - Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Smart Contract Essentials - to help them learn the terminology, gain practical skills and discover how to assess risk so they can better serve their clients in the cryptocurrency field.

"This technology will not replace lawyers," Morgan said. "It will, however, change the practice of law. As we begin to automate aspects of contract creation and enforcement, high quality counsel, offering strategic advice, risk assessment and mitigation based upon an understanding of the underlying technology will become even more important."

7 questions with Pamela Morgan

Q: What were your most memorable experiences in law school?

A: First, the Student Bar Association Board of Governors Mentorship Program. As a 1L, I was paired with an amazing 3L mentor, Amanda Shelton (now of Shelton & Deon Law Group PLLC in Royal Oak). Amanda was everything you'd hope a mentor would be, and not just because she bought me lunch, which she did. She was genuinely interested in helping me succeed at Wayne Law.

Second, as a 3L, I served as the regional administrator for the Jessup International Moot Court Competition, hosted at Wayne Law.

Third, I was the first 1L to become a Westlaw representative at Wayne Law. It allowed me to really learn how to do online research, as well as connect with fellow students and professors through a common goal - using our time and resources efficiently.

Q: Where did you grow up, where do you live now and what sort of kid were you?

A: I grew up in the Detroit metro area, on both the east and west sides. After law school, I moved to Chicago, where I lived for eight years. Currently, I travel full-time internationally for speaking and training engagements. I've traveled to 10 different countries so far in 2017, and I'm finishing the year with talks in Latvia, Finland and Canada. I've intentionally created a career that allows me to travel the world doing exciting and interesting work. I'm living my ideal life.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

A: Working out is one thing I do for myself no matter where I travel. When I'm in the Detroit area, I Jazzercise. No. it's not working out to jazz music. Jazzercise is an interactive, high-intensity workout, and it's something I've done since before law school. Exercise clears my head and allows me to think more clearly, quickly and generally perform better whether I'm practicing law or designing a new cryptocurrency inheritance solution

Q: Tell us a little about cryptoassets inheritance and how that works.

A: I am one of the only lawyers in the world currently working on inheritance and cryptoassets. For the first couple of years, most of the people involved in these technologies thought of the tokens as play money. Once the value in local currencies started increasing by five times, 10 times, 100 times, people started recognizing that these things represent real, tangible value. Then came the panic - how to secure these assets and how to ensure they'll pass along to your heirs.

There are two sides of estate planning for cryptocurrencies and assets - the technical side and the legal side - and you need both in order to successfully effectuate a transfer of value. Lawyers tend to underestimate the complexity and necessity of technical solutions. Engineers tend to underestimate the complexity and necessity of a legal plan. Third Key Solutions bridges the gap.

Q: What advice can you offer beginning law students interested in your field?

A: This is a global practice, filled with nuance and uncertainty. If you're comfortable with that, you'll love this practice area. Law firms around the world are currently looking for lawyers who understand blockchain. Understanding this technology might make you a more valuable associate. When you begin practicing, you can develop expertise in a relatively short period of time - the technology has only existed for eight years. And perhaps most importantly, you can create the kind of lifestyle you want in this industry. If you want a traditional big firm experience, it's available. If you want a boutique or solo practice, that's available, too. If you want a fancy office, there are plenty, but you can also decide to travel the world and make a living, like I do.

Q: If not law, what career might engage your interest?

A: Education, which is a small part of my current career but a larger part of my former career. Before bitcoin, I was a professor and a program director, and I trained college professors.

Q: What do you miss about teaching?

A: One thing I miss about the classroom is getting to know students, their hopes and dreams, and helping them find ways to reach them. Great teachers can change the world. Ultimately, that's always my career goal.

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Pamela Morgan

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Contact: Kaylee Place

Phone: 313-577-4629

Email: kaylee.place@wayne.edu