The Law School Industry - Veteran Emphasis in US Based Law Schools

This analysis provides an excel based study of how the law school industry approaches military veterans, especially who are students at the school but also more broadly. The title is, Veteran Emphasis in US Oriented Law Schools: Part 1, as we will be continuing with this study to contact every entry to develop a better understanding of current challenges, developing practices, and new innovations (note: you will have to download the document for it to view correctly as in excel format).

The information is organized alphabetically by state, and within each state by law school, and includes website links and contact details. A number of factors were taking into account, including law reviews, clinics and externships, associations and organizations, classes, and other miscellaneous innovations. The 'classes' data is somewhat fuzzy as we did not develop a clear metric about what counted as a veteran oriented class and instead went for classes that would be specifically of a military nature. The 'miscellaneous' factor includes a number of interesting innovations, which might be better located under a different classification but we've situated together - e.g., Yellow Ribbon Programs, Outreach Centers, Recruitment Innovations.

A surface read of the information reveals some potentially interesting takeaways. First, while there are considerable number of 'military' or 'national security' law school courses (approximately 120), there are less than 10 classes specifically addressing veteran law (and only one LLM). Second, there are approximately 30 Veteran clinics at US law schools, and while about 115 organizations, only a little more than 1/2 that are specifically focused on veterans (e.g., many instead are more generalist, such as Military Justice Society). Third, there is a significant need for law journals specifically dedicated to veteran conditions (this is not to say there are not special issues or articles that come up in other contexts or other non-scholarship networks). Fourth, while many states will have law schools that offer some focus on veterans, often the emphasis is a more generalist class or a student society. In fact, a number of states have no emphasis on veterans in regards to any of the dynamics (e.g., Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon). Other states only offer some class, but do not offer any additional emphasis or support (e.g., Indiana). Other states have very strong innovations at play (e.g., California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio). There is so much more to be studied here, but we hope this provides some useful information for those interested to better address veteran considerations. At the very least, there seems to be considerable energy at the student level to create community, which may be a valuable resource for future innovations. The relative lack of clinics and more over explicit information on law school websites suggests that this may be an area for more institutionalized veteran-oriented support, and which might also be a valuable opportunity for building a niche market for student recruitment and career placement.

This part of the study was completed with Mr. James Russell Dumas, and with helpful input from Prof. Evan Seamone, Prof Richard Meyer, and a number of MC School of Law veterans. Moving forward with the studies will be in collaboration with Prof. Evan Seamone.

Comments

[AnonLawProf]

I can't believe this blog hasn't posted anything about Scalia -- that's probably the biggest legal news story in a long time.

[JessicaRL]

Some great things are happening at Texas A&M Law to increase emphasis on veteran benefits work. Though I am not sure if there will be a shift toward a related journal—it's certainly a possibility. See link:
https://law.tamu.edu/media/news-media-resources/story/law-school-clinic-awarded-$108-000-grant-hosts-veterans-week-events

[john]

Thanks for this JessicaRL; looks really exciting. We are going to be reaching out to every program at all the law schools to chat about current initiatives to record and then put together a set of 'best practices' / 'exciting innovations' in the coming 1-2 months - would be great to talk with you or someone at Texas A&M Law. Thanks for the message. Warm wishes, john

[James Ridgawy]

It looks like a good start, but it is definitely missing many items. I've been teaching a substantive class on Veterans Law at George Washington for years that isn't listed. I also know that one is taught at Iowa as they used a draft copy of my Veterans Law: Cases and Theory textbook last year. I also know that Denver Sturm is starting a veterans law class as well because they also contacted me about using the book. I'm not sure if it was taught last year or just upcoming. Also, the number of clinical programs sounds lower than what I found when I did the research for my book proposal. I'd be happy to share that spreadsheet if you are interested. It's dated now, but it may fill in some holes.

Overall, I think this is a great project. I'd love to see it hosted somewhere where it was easier to access. Have you reached out to the folks that ran the veterans law clinic conference in D.C. last year?

[anon]

just a suggestion, but is that the type of specialty course that should be taught online and across law schools? i'd imagine that there are plenty of interested students nationwide but typically not enough in each school to warrant the school expending the resources for an excellent course taught each year. (i could be wrong about that.) there must be a couple dozen speciality courses that fall into that category.