Uncategorized

Leading Differently Through Difference • Conference at Hofstra University

The Freedman Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics in conjunction with NYU School of Law, Columbia Law School, other law schools and law firms will sponsor a one day conference addressing the need for law schools to train lawyers to be leaders, specifically to focus upon equity and inclusion as essential to leadership training.   

November 8, 2019 • New York, New York

Click Here For More Conference Information

The legal profession and law schools exist in a time of profound changes in the culture and in lawyering across various fields. This conference asks and seeks to provide answers to: how do we promote Leadership Training in Law Schools in a more inclusive and forward- thinking manner? How does the profession and the academy confront the need to develop cultural competence, deal with gender, race, and other identities affecting full participation, and address generational differences? Why have we not done better in equity and inclusion? These questions call for navigating a set of tensions that must be addressed as part of both lawyer-leadership development generally and building the capacity to navigate across difference. Law may be reactive, but leadership is proactive. Lawyers learn to be risk averse, but leadership requires risk-taking. These, among the many tensions of legal training, present profound challenges to a profession that must drill down to learn to promote skills, and competencies necessary to enable the next generation to confront the challenges facing the profession and the democracy.

National and locally recognized leaders in law and in business will participate on various panels throughout the day.  This includes leaders in law firms and non-profit organizations, federal and state judges, government lawyers, academics, and business leaders. The conference will produce materials for law school curricula as well as volume of the law review dedicated to advancing the research on leadership theory and experience.

Participants include national leaders in the field including the Law Professors Leaders who are on the Planning Committee and have authored books, articles and training materials about these issues:

• Doug Blaze               Tennessee

• Akilah Folami             Hofstra

• Leah Teague             Baylor

• Gary Jenkins               Minnesota

• Susan Jones                 George Washington

• Don Polden                 Santa Clara     

• Deborah Rhode           Stanford

• Anthony Thompson    NYU

Click Here For More Conference Information