Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program to Receive E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award

Congratulations to the University of New Hampshire School of Law's Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program (DWS) on being selected as one of three recipients of this year's E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Awards from the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism.

The Award honors excellence and innovation in professionalism programs by law schools, bar associations, professionalism commissions, and other law-related organizations. The Judges and Committee responsible for selecting the award recipients commended DWS for providing cutting edge educational opportunities that immerse students in practical courses in order to prepare them for a “life of law.” According to the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism, the program is a “proven template for attacking fundamental challenges facing legal education today by focusing intently on experiential learning.”

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers has worked closely with DWS over the last couple of years and published our study of the program in January. In it, we highlighted the growing gap that most new graduates face transitioning from law school into practice, and how the DWS program is an innovative way to bridge that gap. We believe that DWS is a groundbreaking innovation in legal education with many qualities that can serve as models for other schools hoping to replicate its successes.

The Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program will officially receive the award at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago on Friday, July 31, at a joint luncheon of the National Association of Bar Executives, the National Conference of Bar Presidents, and the National Conference of Bar Foundations.

Hunter Metcalf is a third-year law student at the University of Colorado Law School and contributes to IAALS Online. Please direct inquiries about this post to iaals@du.edu.