IAALS’ work in legal education began with a commitment to supporting curricular innovation and collaboration among legal educators.
Objectives:
- Support legal educators and law schools that are taking risks and innovating to improve legal education for the profession, for legal consumers, and for society.
- Collect and develop better tools for assessing programs of legal education.
Through online resources, annual conferences, and the first major evaluation of a non-traditional model of legal education, we developed a broad network of legal education innovators and an expansive collection of resources for educators.
Project Team:
Director of Research
Senior Program Legal Assistant
Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program Evaluation
In 2015, IAALS published an evaluation of the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. The program is a collaboration between the law school, the state supreme court, and the state board of bar examiners, and provides a combination of experiential training and ongoing assessment; students are ultimately evaluated for bar admission based on their performance over the two-year program instead of sitting for the traditional two-day bar exam.
Our evaluation of the program found that:
- In focus groups, members of the profession and alumni said they believe that students who graduate from the program are a step ahead of new law school graduates;
- When evaluated based on standardized client interviews, students in the program outperformed lawyers who had been admitted to practice within the last two years; and
- The only significant predictor of standardized client interview performance was whether or not the interviewer participated in the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program. Neither LSAT scores nor class rank was significantly predictive of interview performance.
We believe that other schools, educators, and jurisdictions can learn from the success of the program. In this report, we provide recommendations for replication on both grand and small scales.
Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Annual Conferences
- 2018 Conference: Covered Phase II of our Foundations for Practice project.
- 2017 Conference: Explored client needs by showcasing lawyers, organizations, and others leading the way to improved delivery of legal services and by tapping into the collective wisdom of innovative legal educators to bring these concepts to life in law schools.
- 2016 Conference: Focused on how to create meaningful learning outcomes, how to measure whether those outcomes are being met, and how to turn those outcomes into tangible hiring criteria for legal employers.
- 2015 Conference: Served as a convening of experts who helped identify the highest use of our initial Foundations for Practice data and create a roadmap for recommendations and implementation of educational models.
- 2014 Conference: Demonstrated how assessment can be used for teaching, for learning, and as support for law schools and educators when developing new or innovative models.
- 2013 Conference: Took a closer look at took a closer look at connecting the academy with the profession.
- 2012 Conference: Focused on developing expertise around the formation of professional identity in legal education.
It became an Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Conference tradition to kick off the first day with a series of Ignite presentations. Presenters have 6 minutes, 20 slides, and 18 seconds per slide to share their projects, successes, and innovative ideas with a room full of legal educators and employers. Click here for video of past presentations.
Course Portfolios
IAALS compiled a number of course portfolios that were shared by professors who have distinguished themselves as leaders in legal education; who have incorporated into their own teaching a commitment to producing more practice-ready and professional graduates; and who demonstrate a willingness to share their expertise and experiences with others who want to develop these courses at their own institutions. These professors are our Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Fellows.
The course portfolios can be viewed here, and include background material, video tutorials, teaching methods, recommendations and strategies for adaptation, and outcomes.
Partners
Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Consortium (2011-2017)
Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers, a former initiative of IAALS focused on improving legal education, partnered with law schools that were committed to its mission of aligning legal education with the needs of an evolving profession. We worked with a wide range of law schools across the country and we are especially grateful to the schools below, which joined our Consortium during the initiative's formative years. We no longer have a formal Consortium, but we continue to benefit from our partnership with these and many other schools, as well as educators, lawyers, employers, and others who are making a difference in the way we educate tomorrow’s lawyers.
Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Fellows
The Fellows of Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers are individuals who have distinguished themselves as leaders in legal education; who have incorporated into their own teaching a commitment to producing more practice-ready and professional graduates; and who demonstrate a willingness to share their expertise and experiences with others. IAALS honors the Fellows for their achievements.
Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Assistant Professor, Charlotte School of Law
Chair in Modern Learning and Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Adjunct Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Professor of Law and Senior Scholar, Elon University School of Law
Professor of Law and Economics, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Stephen F. Burns Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri School of Law
Co-Director, Center for Ethical Formation & Legal Education Reform, Regent University School of Law
Faculty Director, Innovation Practice Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Director of the Mills Legal Clinic, Stanford Law School
Vincent Bradford Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Associate Professor of Clinical Legal Education, University of Miami School of Law
Director of Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services and Professor of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Associate Professor of Law and Director of Litigation Center, Golden Gate University School of Law
Sidney and Walter Siben Distinguished Professor of Law, Maurice A. Deane School of Law, Hofstra University
Dean, Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law
Associate Director and Clinical Instructor, Health Rights Clinic, University of Miami School of Law
Professor of Practice, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Professor of Law, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Assistant Professor in Residence, University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law
Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Assistant Professor, Charlotte School of Law
Chair in Modern Learning and Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Adjunct Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Professor of Law and Senior Scholar, Elon University School of Law
Professor of Law and Economics, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Stephen F. Burns Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri School of Law
Co-Director, Center for Ethical Formation & Legal Education Reform, Regent University School of Law
Faculty Director, Innovation Practice Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Director of the Mills Legal Clinic, Stanford Law School
Vincent Bradford Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Associate Professor of Clinical Legal Education, University of Miami School of Law
Director of Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services and Professor of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Associate Professor of Law and Director of Litigation Center, Golden Gate University School of Law
Sidney and Walter Siben Distinguished Professor of Law, Maurice A. Deane School of Law, Hofstra University
Dean, Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law
Associate Director and Clinical Instructor, Health Rights Clinic, University of Miami School of Law
Professor of Practice, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Professor of Law, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Assistant Professor in Residence, University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law
Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Advisory Committee (2011-2014)
Judge, United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Dean and Professor of Law, Elon University School of Law
Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Executive Search Consultant, Russell Reynolds Associates
Justice, Utah Supreme Court
Managing Partner, Girard Gibbs LLP
Professor of Law and Economics, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
CEO, OnRamp Systems
Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Director of the Mills Legal Clinic, Stanford Law School
Former Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc.
Owner and Senior Trial Attorney, The Middleton Firm, LLC
District Attorney, City and County of Denver
Co-Managing Partner, DLA Piper, Phoenix Office
Former Associate Executive Director of Programs, NITA
President and General Counsel, MALDEF
Former General Counsel & Secretary, Accenture PLC
Deputy Under Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education
Founder, The Jefferson Circle
Judge, United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Dean and Professor of Law, Elon University School of Law
Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Executive Search Consultant, Russell Reynolds Associates
Justice, Utah Supreme Court
Managing Partner, Girard Gibbs LLP
Professor of Law and Economics, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
CEO, OnRamp Systems
Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Director of the Mills Legal Clinic, Stanford Law School
Former Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc.
Owner and Senior Trial Attorney, The Middleton Firm, LLC
District Attorney, City and County of Denver
Co-Managing Partner, DLA Piper, Phoenix Office
Former Associate Executive Director of Programs, NITA
President and General Counsel, MALDEF
Former General Counsel & Secretary, Accenture PLC
Deputy Under Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education
Founder, The Jefferson Circle