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Asking the Right Questions

The oldest advice in the world is that the trick is not in knowing the answers—rather it is in knowing the right questions to ask. In legal education today, we find ourselves facing many questions—from students, from the profession, from the media, from the legal marketplace, and from our own colleagues. If we focus on the right questions we can take steps to ensure that a modern legal education will continue to educate lawyers to the highest standards of competence and professionalism—standards that clients, the profession, and the legal system deserve.

In October 2013, we took a closer look at these 3 questions:

  • What Core Competencies Do Entry Level Lawyers Need?
  • What Structural and Curricular Changes Ensure Law Grads Have the Necessary Core Competencies?
  • How Can Law School Accreditation and Bar Admissions Standards Facilitate Innovation in Legal Education?

Heard different perspectives from:

  • Legal educators and legal practitioners
  • Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Award Winner, William D. Henderson
  • Retired Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard
  • A panel of law school deans

Featuring:

  • Panel presentations with diverse participants
  • Small working group sessions
  • Mini, Ignite-style presentations to facilitate discussions and spark new ideas

 

 

Registration was free to three faculty members from each Consortium school and for all Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Fellows. Other participants also joined the discussion. Contact Alli Gerkman for further information. 

Materials

These resources include materials from the conference, as well as speaker videos and presentations.

Conference Video

  1. Three Questions About the Future of Legal Education—What Are Your Answers?

Public Advocates Inc.

  1. Law Fellow/Staff Attorney Core Competencies

William D. Henderson

  1. A Blueprint for Change
  2. Flipping the Switch

Rachel M. Zahorsky & William D. Henderson

  1. Who's Eating Law Firms' Lunch?

Neil W. Hamilton

  1. Law-Firm Competency Models and Student Professional Success

American Bar Association Task Force on the Future of Legal Education

  1. Draft Report and Recommendations: ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education - Sept. 20, 2013

Samuel Estreicher

  1. The Roosevelt-Cardozo Way: The Case for Bar Eligibility After Two Years of Law School

Clinical Legal Education Association

  1. CLEA Comment & Proposal to Require 15 Credits in Experiential Courses

Richard Susskind

  1. Tomorrow's Lawyers

Michael Hunter Schwartz, Gerald F. Hess, and Sophie M. Sparrow

  1. What the Best Law Teachers Do

State Bar of California

  1. State Bar of California Task Force on Admissions Regulation Reform: Phase I Final Report

James Moliterno

  1. The American Legal Profession in Crisis

Wes Porter

  1. Find Your VOICe Project

Jay Finkelstein

  1. Getting the Practitioner into the Classroom

​Sarah Glassmeyer

  1. Open Law & Law School Innovations

Anahid Gharakhanian & Patty Powell

  1. Mindfulness in Legal Education
Agenda

Thursday, October 3

12:00 p.m.  General Registration Begins

12:00 p.m.  ETL Fellows Lunch

1:30 p.m.  Welcome and Introduction (Alli Gerkman, Director of Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers, IAALS)

2:00 p.m.  Speed Networking

5:30 p.m.  Break

6:30 p.m.  Reception and Dinner: Award and Keynote Presentation (William D. Henderson, Director, Center on the Global Legal Profession, Indiana University Maurer School of Law)

8:30 p.m.  Adjourn

 

Friday, October 4

8:00 a.m.  Breakfast

8:30 a.m.  What Core Competencies Do Entry Level Lawyers Need?

Panelists:

  • Neil Hamilton (Director of the Holloran Center, University of St. Thomas School of Law)

  • Jamienne Studley (President and CEO, Public Advocates)

  • Brenda Kleidosty (Director of Professional Development, Gibson Dunn)

  • Douglas Scrivner (General Counsel and Secretary (Ret.), Accenture)

  • Roy McFarland (Partner, McFarland Pyle & Stone)

  • Moderator: Taggart Hansen (Chief Counsel, Labor and Employment, CH2M HILL)

10:30 a.m.  Break

10:45 a.m.  The Future of Legal Education: The ABA Task Force Report (Chief Justice Randall Shepard (Ret.), Indiana Supreme Court) (Chair, ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education)

11:45 a.m.  Lunch with Small Groups

1:15 p.m. Report Back on Small Group Lunches

2:15 p.m.  What Structural and Curricular Changes Ensure Law Grads Have the Necessary Core Competencies?

Panelists:

  • John Burwell Garvey (Director of the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program, University of New Hampshire School of Law)

  • Samuel Estreicher (Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law, New York University School of Law)

  • David Thomson (University of Denver Sturm College of Law)

3:30 p.m.  Break

3:45 p.m.  Deans' Panel: The Pedagogy and Business of Legal Education Reform

Panelists:

  • Dean Anthony Crowell (New York Law School)

  • Dean Phoebe Haddon (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law)

  • Dean Martin Katz (University of Denver Sturm College of Law)

  • Dean Marc Miller (The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law)

  • Moderator: Dean Rachel Van Cleave (Golden Gate University School of Law)

5:15 p.m.  Adjourn

5:30 p.m.  Reception with Ignite-Style Presentations

 

Saturday, October 5

8:00 a.m.  Breakfast

8:30 a.m. How Can Law School Accreditation and Bar Admissions Standards Facilitate Innovation in Legal Education?

Panelists:

  • Hon. Christine Durham (Utah Supreme Court)

  • Robert R. Kuehn (Washington University School of Law)

  • Jon B. Streeter (Keker & Van Nest)

  • Eli Wald (University of Denver Sturm College of Law)

  • Moderator: Rebecca Love Kourlis (Executive Director, IAALS)

9:30 a.m.  Small Group Breakout Session

10:30 a.m.  Break

10:45 a.m.  Report Back on Small Group Session

11:45 a.m.  Closing Remarks

12:00 p.m. Adjourn

Presenters

Dean Anthony Crowell
New York Law School, New York, NY

Hon. Christine Durham
Utah Supreme court, Salt Lake City, UT

Samuel Estreicher
Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law
New York University School of Law, New York, NY

John Burwell Garvey
Director of the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program
University of New Hampshire School of Law, Concord, NH

Dean Phoebe Haddon
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, Baltimore, MD

Neil Hamilton
Director of the Holloran Center
University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minneapolis, MN

Taggart Hansen
Chief Counsel, Labor and Employment
CH2M HILL, Englewood, CO

William D. Henderson
Director, Center on the Global Legal Profession
Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, IN

Dean Martin Katz
University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver, CO

Brenda Kleidosty
Director of Professional Development
Gibson Dunn, Los Angeles, CA

Rebecca Love Kourlis
Executive Director
IAALS, Denver, CO

Robert R. Kuehn
Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, MO

Roy McFarland
Partner
McFarland Pyle & Stone, Denver, CO

Dean Marc Miller
The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Tucson, AZ

Douglas Scrivner
General Counsel and Secretary (Ret.)
Accenture, New York, NY

Chief Justice Randall Shepard (Ret.)
Indiana Supreme Court, Indianapolis, IN

Jon B. Streeter
Keker & Van Nest, San Francisco, CA

Jamienne Studley
President and CEO
Public Advocates, San Francisco, CA

David Thomson
University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver, CO

Dean Rachel Van Cleave
Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, CA

Eli Wald
University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver, CO

Location

Courtyard by Marriott Denver Cherry Creek

1475 South Colorado Boulevard

Denver, Colorado 80222

 

We encourage out-of-town participants to stay at the Courtyard by Marriot Denver Cherry Creek. Call Anthony Franker, Reservations Manager, at 720-974-3020 to book your hotel room at the preferred IAALS rate. (Note: the preferred rate was available through September 9, but the hotel will continue to honor the rate if space allows.)

Rooms are $114 for one person per room and $124 for two people per room. The hotel will use room occupancy numbers to prepare catering and other services for participants, so please be careful to select the appropriate option. 

Hotel reservations should be made immediately as space is limited.

 

Ground Transportation

For travel to/from Denver International Airport (DIA), attendees have a variety of options, including: