Teaching Leadership and Strategy in Law Schools

Dennis Kaw is the General Counsel for Appliance Factory Outlet and its affiliates (AFO). AFO owns and operates a chain of retail stores, is the 43rd largest appliance dealer in the country, and is ranked 41st in Colorado Business Magazine's list of Top 250 Privately Held Companies 2011. Dennis manages all of AFO's legal needs, including litigation, employment, compliance, and intellectual property. He is also responsible for developing and implementing AFO's growth strategies.

In his Voices from the Field interview, Kaw remarks on the need for law students to have more practical experience in law schools before entering the profession, because the ability to simply parrot back to clients and partners the basic doctrine learned in school is not beneficial. Kaw believes that because more employers are unable or unwilling to provide on-the-job training, law schools must fill this void. He also suggests that law schools emulate the business school model of teaching students leadership and strategy.

Dennis Kaw is the General Counsel for Appliance Factory Outlet and its affiliates (AFO). AFO owns and operates a chain of retail stores, is the 43rd largest appliance dealer in the country, and is ranked 41st in Colorado Business Magazine's list of Top 250 Privately Held Companies 2011. Dennis manages all of AFO's legal needs, including litigation, employment, compliance, and intellectual property. He is also responsible for developing and implementing AFO's growth strategies.

Dennis is a 1998 graduate of the University of Denver School Of Law. He started his career as a Captain in the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corp., where he prosecuted criminal and security matters.  From 2005 to 2010, he worked as a trial attorney with Denver-based commercial litigation firms. In 2010, he joined AFO as its first general counsel.