The Faculty Lounge

Western New England Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

Western New England University (WNE or the University) seeks nominations and applications for the dean of Western New England School of Law (WNE Law or the Law School). The dean will join an exceptionally collegial community focused on student success and community impact. As the only law school in Western Massachusetts, WNE Law is a school of access and opportunity, offering an array of programs to meet the needs of a diverse student body of full-time, part-time, day, and evening students. The Law School maintains a proud transformational legacy of preparing graduates to enter the legal profession practice- ready and to become advocates and civic leaders within their communities. Building upon the Law School’s traditions of inclusivity, practical training, and community lawyering, the dean will have the opportunity to influence the future of a school where faculty, staff, and students are extraordinarily supportive of one another and committed to making a positive impact on the legal community of Western New England and beyond.

WNE Law serves as an “opportunity law school” in its region. It has a demonstrated history of offering a pathway to the legal profession for students who are traditionally underrepresented in the field, such as first-generation students and working professionals. WNE Law currently enrolls approximately 337 students in its JD, MS, and LLM programs and offers several areas of concentration. Its more than 8,500 living graduates are actively pursuing meaningful careers in all sectors of the law, primarily within Western New England, one of the most welcoming, progressive, and inclusive regions in the country.

 

Penn State President Recommends Reunification of Its Two Law Schools

The world goes round.  Neeli Bendapudi, Penn State's president,  is recommending that the university reverse the previous decision to separate its two law school campuses in to two separately ABA accredited schools and instead merge them back into one.  The plan is for the new school to become Penn State Dickinson Law - based primarily in Carlisle.  It will be lead by Penn State Dickinson Law's current dean, Danielle Conway - and based on the recommendation, Penn State University Park is canceling its dean search.  Deets here.  

Kathleen Boozang Stepping Down as Dean of Seton Hall Law

Kathleen Boozang, who has served as dean of Seton Hall School of Law since 2015, will step down on January 1, 2023 and will return to the faculty.  Professor John Kip Cornwell will serve as interim dean while the university conducts a search for its next dean. 

 

 

Theresa Beiner Stepping Down as Dean of UA Little Rock Law

Theresa Beiner, who has served as Dean of University Arkansas Little Rock School of Law since since 2018, will step down on June 30, 2023 and return to a faculty position.  Details about the search for a new dean can be found here.

 

 

 

Rutgers Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

Rutgers Law School, the largest public law school in the northeast, invites applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the Law School. Rutgers Law School is looking for a dynamic leader whose skills and energy will focus on building and aligning the faculty, the staff, the student body, and external legal partners to prepare excellent and engaged lawyers for the future.

Now is an exciting time in the history of legal education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Rutgers Law School offers students, alumni, attorneys, and the public a rich array of services and opportunities from its two well-established New Jersey locations at Camden and Newark, and it adjoins two of the nation’s largest, most dynamic legal markets (New York City and Philadelphia). Rutgers is well-recognized for its tradition of academic excellence, opportunity, inclusion, and affordability. Rutgers Law School is committed to scholarly distinction and engagement with the major legal issues and concerns facing our host communities, the region, country, and world. The faculty has acted on its commitment to equity and to scholarly excellence by creating a unitary tenure-track structure for full-time faculty. Rutgers Law School has a long-standing and steadfast commitment to social justice and public service, carried out through a myriad of programs, and projects that provide legal services to individuals in need: locally, nationally, and globally. The law school is committed to excellence in practice: both the legal writing and clinical programs are annually ranked within the top #15 in the nation. The law school is also highly ranked for its part-time program. As one of the largest law schools in the nation, Rutgers Law School delivers a comprehensive enhanced curriculum, an extensive alumni association, and a heightened national profile befitting the law school of a major public research university.

 

Penn Law Names Consultative Dean Search Committee

The University of Pennsylvania  has announced a Consultative Committee to advise on the selection of the next dean of Penn Law.  The faculty members are:

• Erika H. James, Committee Chair; Dean, Wharton School and Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise (WHA)
• Anita L. Allen, Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and professor of philosophy (LAW)
• Mitchell Berman, Leon Meltzer Professor of Law and professor of philosophy (LAW)
• Cary Coglianese, Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and professor of political science (LAW)
• Jonathan D. Moreno, David and Lyn Silfen University Professor; professor of medical ethics & health policy and history & sociology of science (PSOM and SAS)
• Sarah Pierce, Denise A. Rotko Associate Dean for Legal Practice Skills (LAW)
• Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, professor of law and psychology (LAW)
• Christopher S. Yoo, John H. Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer & Information Science (LAW)

Nominations may be sent to  lawdeansearch@upenn.edu.  Kenneth L. Kring, from Korn Ferry, is consulting on the search. 

Widener Law Commonwealth Seeks Dean

This just in:

Widener Law Commonwealth (WLC) invites applications, expressions of interest, and nominations of candidates to be our next Dean.

About Widener Law Commonwealth

WLC is a small, close-knit, collegial law school committed, above all, to our students’ success.  WLC’s supportive community of teachers, staff, and alumni is dedicated to providing our students with a personal, practical, and professional legal education.  We work together to provide an education that values each individual student and emphasizes individual attention.  Our goal is to transform promising students into skilled lawyers—whether in government or in the private sector—who know the law and use the law to solve problems, and who are engaged as leaders in their communities.  We view as crucial to this mission a dedication to excellent and innovative teaching, engagement in scholarship that enriches our teaching and the development of the law, and participation in public service.  These activities—teaching, scholarship, and service—enrich the institution and provide models for students in their personal, practical, and professional development.

 

Gordon Smith Stepping Down as BYU Law Dean

D. Gordon Smith has announced that he will step down as dean of BYU Law at the end of the 2022-23 school year.  Smith became dean in 2016.

Vermont Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

Vermont Law School seeks its next innovative Dean of the Law School who shares our commitment to academic excellence and community.

In the summer of 2022, the school announced a new organizational and administrative structure as part of its bold strategic plan. The centerpiece of the new organizational structure and plan was the creation of a separate Law School and Graduate School, each with its own Dean, reporting to the President who oversees the Vermont Law and Graduate School.

We are pleased to launch the national search and invite applications for the Dean of the Law School.  Interested candidates should visit https://www.vermontlaw.edu/careers/dean-of-the-law-school for more information and application instructions.

UCLA School of Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites inquiries, nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the UCLA School of Law.

Founded in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is one of the youngest top-ranked law schools in the United States and is committed to advancing the field of law through strong traditions of excellence in teaching, curricular innovation, influential scholarship and public engagement. One of UCLA’s 12 professional schools, the law school has approximately 200 full-time and part-time faculty (of whom 70 are tenure track) who teach approximately 1,400 students enrolled in Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.), Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) and Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) programs. The school houses a wide array of centers and institutes in such areas as business law, climate change, entertainment law, human rights, immigration law and policy, international and comparative law, reproductive health, technology law and policy, and sexual orientation and gender identity law. The school offers academic specializations in business law and policy; critical race studies; environmental law; international and comparative law; media, entertainment and technology law; law and philosophy; and public interest law and policy. Eight concurrent degree programs allow students to pursue a J.D. along with a degree in African American studies, American Indian studies, management, philosophy, public health, public policy, social welfare and urban planning. UCLA Law faculty are recognized worldwide for their contributions to scholarship, teaching and law reform in a broad spectrum of fields that have significant societal impact — including constitutional law, civil rights and critical race studies, environmental law and policy, criminal law, corporate law, public interest law, immigration law, international law and intellectual property.

 

Brooklyn Law Seeks Dean and President

This just in:

Brooklyn Law School seeks a new Dean and President, with a target appointment date of July 1, 2023. Founded in 1901 as a freestanding law school, BLS is an incubator for the bar, bench, and civic and commercial leadership across New York City, the metropolitan area, and the nation. The new Dean and President will lead a nimble institution with a faculty noted for its collegiality, scholarly impact, and the quality of its doctrinal and experiential teaching. BLS’s 100 staff members play an integral role in realizing its mission. BLS is the destination of choice for a richly diverse student population, enrolling 1,079 full-time and 105 part-time students. The incoming first-year class is the most racially diverse in BLS’s history. Many of BLS’s 23,000 alumni play important roles in New York City; others reside and work in 49 states and 50 foreign countries.

Reporting to the Board of Trustees, the new Dean and President will provide fresh vision in initiating comprehensive strategic planning; grow the faculty by attracting scholars and teachers of distinction and promise; oversee the roll-out of non-JD programs now up for regulatory approval; leverage a newly expanded and restructured advancement staff to increase annual fundraising and plan and execute a capital campaign; recruit and appoint a new chief operating officer to upgrade administrative infrastructure; and guide and amplify ongoing efforts to improve bar passage, enhance the student experience and related outcomes, and promote staff wellbeing and alumni engagement.

 

Chapman Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

Chapman University, a private university recognized for its culture of innovation as well as excellence in research and cutting-edge teaching, is extending its search for candidates for the position of Dean of the Dale E. Fowler School of Law.

Founded in 1995, the Dale E. Fowler School of Law (Fowler Law) based in Orange County, California is one of the premier private law schools in Southern California and consistently recognized as one of the top law schools in the nation for practical training. The School’s next Dean will inherit an outstanding market position, a thriving enrollment, and a community united in the shared goal of providing an outstanding legal education. The School aims to build on the momentum generated in recent years by record fundraising – including an extraordinarily generous $55 million naming gift; continuous improvement in U.S. News and World Report rankings; and increases in the academic profile and diversity of the incoming class. With these tailwinds, Fowler Law seeks to extend its reputation throughout California, regionally, and nationally through strategic management of its opportunities, resources, and excellent alumni partners.

Fowler Law offers a collaborative, personalized, and rigorous education that makes students more practice-ready than their counterparts at other schools. Ranked 16^th in the country for practical training, students have access to a wide array of experiential learning opportunities, including clinics, externships, practice-ready labs, and practice-oriented writing classes. With one of the best faculty-to-student ratios among ABA-approved law schools, Fowler Law offers smaller class sizes and greater access to a distinguished faculty both in and out of the classroom.

 

Albany Law Seeks President and Dean

This just in:

Albany Law School, a private and independent law school based in Albany, New York, and known for its pioneering blend of practical education and critical scholarship, seeks applications and nominations for the position of President and Dean.

As the nation's oldest independent law school with alumni that include a United States President, two United States Supreme Court Justices, appellate judges, Fortune 500 CEOs and other prominent leaders and scholars, Albany Law School has earned its national reputation for excellence and is defined by its collegial community. Offering 18 areas of concentration for J.D. candidates, several dual-degree opportunities, LL.M. offerings, online graduate programs, and 3+3 accelerated programs, while maintaining an important affiliation with the University of Albany, Albany Law School plays a vital role in the higher education landscape of Upstate New York. Students, many of whom may not otherwise have had the opportunity to gain access to a legal education, thrive in a flexible, rigorous and experiential learning environment, and graduate prepared to make an immediate contribution as tomorrow’s leaders, engaged professionals, committed public servants, inspiring community change-agents, and creative problem solvers.

Reporting to the Board of Trustees, the President and Dean will be a collaborative, transparent, student-centered, and strategic leader who guides faculty, staff, students, and processes with empathy and integrity. This person must have a track record of distinguished management and administration, and must possess a deep commitment to student success, faculty teaching and scholarly engagement and the organizational and leadership skills necessary to attract and retain human and financial resources. The ideal candidate should have a sophisticated understanding of the changing landscape of legal education, respect and appreciation for shared governance, and fundraising experience. Of critical importance is a commitment to fostering Albany Law School's mission to connect the classroom to the profession, government, and the community through experience-based learning, engaged scholarship, and a robust network of alumni and supporters.

 

University of Mississippi School of Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

The University of Mississippi (www.olemiss.edu) invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the School of Law.

The University of Mississippi School of Law (http://law.olemiss.edu/) was established in 1854 and is the first and only public law school in the state. The School of Law has a record of hiring and retaining distinguished faculty and nationally recognized scholars and attracting highly qualified students. The School is known for its academic rigor, its seven robust clinic programs, three academic concentrations, and five law journals. In 2016, The National Jurist magazine named the University of Mississippi School of Law among the top 25 nationally for practical training available to students.

The School is also among the top law schools in the nation for access and equity.  In 2022, the Rutgers Law Review published an article that finds UM Law to lead among the top law schools for access and equity (https://rutgerslawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/05_Mathis_Website.pdf). The School of Law also received a substantial grant from the University Equity in Action Support Fund to help us expand the school’s already thriving Fall HBCU Preview Day. The School of Law plans to continue this record of excellence by striving to meet the goals adopted by the faculty in the 2020 DEI Strategic plan (https://law.olemiss.edu/about/diversity/strategic-plan-for-diversity-inclusion-and-equity/).

Supporting the School’s strong commitment to academic and scholarly excellence is an endowment exceeding $38 million. The School of Law is located in a state-of-the-art, 120,000 square-foot facility. Accredited by the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association, the School is a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

 

Elon Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

Elon University School of Law (Elon Law), a forward-thinking law school known for its pioneering blend of experiential learning and critical scholarship, is extending its search for candidates for the position of Dean of the School of Law.

Located in Greensboro, North Carolina, Elon Law is the country’s preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required, full-time (30+ hours/week) field placement for every student, known as a Residency-in-Practice. The law school’s distinctive curriculum provides a logically-sequenced program of professional preparation. Elon Law’s innovative curriculum is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides exceptional value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their careers.

Elon Law’s shorter academic program benefits students by substantially reducing their debt load, an attractive proposition for many prospective students drawn to the school’s trimester-based academic calendar. The law school has enjoyed significant increases in applications and enrollment in recent years when most other law schools experienced declines. In 2021-22, total enrollment reached a historic high of 429 students, driven by a record number of students matriculating in the Class of December 2023.

Guided by its student-centered approach to legal education, Elon Law’s bar passage and post-graduate employment rates have seen consistent and significant increases since the implementation of the 2.5 year academic program. The increased bar passage rate has resulted from an investment in student success and undergirds the law school’s strong employment figures. Increased graduate employment rates are also attributable to Elon Law’s emphasis on experiential learning. The law school’s Residency-in-Practice Program ensures that students connect classroom learning with real-world practice. The Residency-in-Practice experience also provides students with insights that they bring back to the law school when they return to complete their studies.

Reaccredited in 2021 by the ABA, Elon Law seeks a collaborative, transparent and strategic leader who is energized and inspired by the school's entrepreneurial spirit and the opportunities presented by Elon University's considerable success, reputation, leadership in experiential education, and innovative culture.

 

ASU Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

Arizona State University seeks a dynamic and experienced leader to serve as Dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

Over the past decade, the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (ASU Law) has transformed into one of the nation’s top 30 law schools, following a trajectory in scope, scale, and recognition that mirrors the astounding momentum of ASU. ASU Law offers an innovative approach to legal education that features experiential learning and a variety of programs and emphases that prepare students to thrive in a changing legal landscape. Committed to innovative teaching and research and serving communities both within Arizona and nationwide, ASU Law is home to distinguished faculty and passionate, talented, and socially conscious students.

The next Dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law will take the helm of the most dynamic law school in the country and will guide ASU Law to new levels of excellence and prominence and help to shape the future of legal education. Building on the momentum of a transformative decade, the Dean will raise the College’s national profile, recruit the highest caliber of students, faculty, and staff to the College, set high standards for creative legal scholarship and clinical practice, promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, commit to student success, and build community connections. This position offers the opportunity to make an extraordinary impact not only on a rapidly changing state, but on the quality and nature of legal education nationally.

 

Jacksonville Law Launches with Nick Allard as Dean, 14 1L's

That was quick.  Jacksonville University's new law school has opened its doors.  

Michael Whiteman Named Interim Dean of Cincinnati Law

Michael Whiteman, Associate Dean of Library Services & Director of the Law Library at Cincinnati Law, has been named interim dean of the law school stepping in for Verna Williams, who will become CEO of Equal Justice Works. Whiteman joined the Cincinnati Law faculty in 2019 and holds a JD from University of Louisville School of Law. 

 

Indiana Bloomington Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

Indiana University Bloomington invites applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the Maurer School of Law.

Founded in 1842, the Maurer School of Law is among the top public law schools in the nation. The Maurer School of Law has approximately 600 JD students and 50 international students, 53 full-time faculty members, four robust research centers, numerous clinical and externship opportunities, and partnerships with top-ranked schools on the Bloomington campus and around the world. The school prepares its students to become ethical lawyers and leaders, and has an engaged and supportive alumni base throughout the world.

The Dean serves as the chief academic and administrative officer for the Maurer School of Law, and reports to the Provost and Executive Vice President. Applicants for Dean of the Maurer School of Law should possess distinguished records of scholarship, teaching, professional experience, and public service, and be appropriate for tenure as a full professor at the law school. Applicants should also possess the strong administrative, managerial, development, and communication skills necessary for leading a law school on the campus of a highly interdisciplinary public research university. In addition, the Dean will be a senior leader at the university and will join a collegial and collaborative group of decanal colleagues who oversee the 17 other schools on campus. The expected announcement date for the position is October 1, 2022. The starting date is negotiable.

The University’s dedication to excellence is complemented by its commitment to building a culturally diverse academic community. Individuals from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

Applications received by July 22, 2022, will be given full consideration. However, the search will remain open until a suitable candidate is found. Further information about the search, including the full position description can be found at: https://provost.indiana.edu/about/exec- searches/maurer-dean.html

To apply, create an applicant account, including CV and letter of interest at: https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/13158

Questions about the search, feedback, or nominations may be emailed to Brandi Host, Project Manager, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President at: searchbl@indiana.edu

Indiana University is an equal employment and affirmative action employer and a provider of ADA services. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment based on individual qualifications. Indiana University prohibits discrimination based on age, ethnicity, color, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.

Tamara Lawson Named Dean of University of Washington School of Law

University of Washington School of Law has announced that Tamara Lawson will be the new dean of its law school.   She is currently dean and professor of law at St. Thomas University School of Law in Florida.  Lawson, who holds a JD from University of San Francisco Law and an LLM from Georgetown, will take over on August 16th.