VOL. 11, SPRING/SUMMER 2024
Our students are studying law at a moment when many of our most cherished values as Americans are at a crossroads – among them are truth, civility, the rule of law, and democracy. Our work on leadership education has never been more important. Now more than ever, we need lawyer-leaders to defend these values. That’s why I ask our students each year to think of themselves as more than future lawyers. I ask them to think of themselves as future custodians of civility, defenders of democracy, and guardians of justice.
As Chair of the AALS Leadership Section, I am honored to follow in the footsteps of so many pioneers in law school leadership education – Professor Deborah Rhode (2018), Professor Leah Teague (2019), Dean Doug Blaze (2020), Dean Don Polden (2021), Dean Garry Jenkins (2022), and Dean April Barton (2023). We are a relatively new AALS Section, chartered in November 2017, but we already have made a huge impact on legal education, thanks in large part to our founder, the late Deborah Rhode, and my Section Chair predecessors, each of whom has been teaching leadership for many years. Kellye Testy, our new Executive Director and CEO of AALS, is also a long-time leader in teaching leadership in law schools. Thanks to all of them and many of you, an increasing number of law schools have leadership programs and curriculum.
My special thanks to last year’s Chair, Dean April Barton, for the opportunity to work closely with her on the January 2024 AALS Leadership Section Session and my thanks to Chair-Elect, Professor Joan Heminway and the other members of the Executive Committee with whom I’m working to make our January 2025 AALS Leadership Section Session equally successful. I’m very grateful for the members of our AALS Leadership Section Executive Committee each of whom is featured in this newsletter.
We hosted a thought-provoking session on April 25, Teaching Law Leadership with Non-Law Texts with Professor Joan Heminway and Beth Ford, Interim Director, Institute for Professional Leadership, University of Tennessee College of Law. As noted below, we will host leadership webinars on September 10, October 8, and November 13. Please join us for each of these sessions. Please also join us October 24-25 at the Leadership Symposium hosted by The University of Tennessee College of Law’s Institute for Professional Leadership. More information is below.
We have created a bank of law school leadership course syllabi and descriptions of law school leadership programs. Please add your leadership course syllabus and/or leadership program description here: Shared Course Syllabi and Program Descriptions.
My thanks to each of you for all you do to promote leadership education and training in our law schools.
My best,
Lee
[email protected]
MEET THE 2024 – 2025 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
April M. Barton
Dean and Professor of Law
Duquesne University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
“Leadership development instills within our students a deep desire to serve others, pursue justice and act with integrity in any role they choose.”
Hear from April
Martin Brinkley
Dean and William Rand Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor
The University of North Carolina School of Law
“As de Tocqueville said in the 1830s, in America lawyers are the class that exercises restraint on the dangerous potential of a public carried away by populist passion. That role is of immense importance today.”
Hear from Martin
Chair-Elect
Joan MacLeod Heminway
Rick Rose Distinguished Professor of Law, The University of Tennessee College of Law
“Leading as a lawyer takes true grit—passion + perseverance. If we model it, our students can learn it.”
Hear from Joan
Tania Luma
Assistant Dean, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
& Clinical Professor
Loyola University Chicago School of Law
“In the face of enormous divides, the practice of leadership is critical–it is the practice of mobilizing people to meet the challenges that will enable them to thrive in changing and challenging times.”
Hear from Tania
Hillary A. Sale
Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Leadership and Corporate Governance and Professor of Management
Georgetown University Law Center
“Teaching leadership is a great way for students to examine their purpose in being a lawyer and to take ownership of their careers and opportunities.”
Hear from Hillary
Aric Short
Professor of Law; Director of 1L Mentoring
Texas A&M University School of Law
“A pressing reason to teach leadership is to encourage students to first lead themselves. The practice of law expects new graduates to be self-directed, motivated, and curious.”
Hear from Aric
Leah Teague
Professor and Director of Leadership Development Program
Baylor Law School
“From advising clients to advocating for a cause to negotiating a deal or the resolution of a conflict, every aspect of what a lawyer does when representing clients is a version of leadership.”
Hear from Leah
Kellye Y. Testy
Executive Director and CEO, AALS
“Before a leader can fix much else, they need to first focus on improving their own health — spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical. That first step helps a leader get out of their own way so that they can truly be of service to others.”
Hear from Kellye
IN MEMORIAM
Susan Jones, Professor of Clinical Law
George Washington University School of Law
“At its core, leadership is about transformation. Leadership coaching, a personalized and confidential form of professional and personal development, is a creative partnership between a coach and a client to empower the client toward greater self-reflection, clarity of purpose, meaningful change, accountability, and effective engagement in the world.”
Earlier this year, we lost our colleague Professor Susan Jones. Susan was a friend and inspiration to many of us, an active member of the Executive Committee of our AALS Leadership Section Executive Committee, and a passionate advocate for leadership education in law schools. Susan was a Professor of Clinical Law and a member of the full-time faculty at The George Washington University Law School. She was also the Director and Supervising Attorney of the Small Business & Community Economic Development Clinic (SBCED Clinic). Susan was a trailblazer in transactional clinical legal education and the practice of small business law and social entrepreneurism.
Before she passed, we asked Susan to answer some questions about her views on leadership.
Learn about Susan
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Intersection of Leadership, Professionalism, and Professional Identity – Webinar
Sep 10, 2024 • 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM (ET)
SPEAKERS:
April M. Barton, Dean and Professor of Law, Duquesne University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
Aric Short, Professor of Law and Director, Professionalism and Leadership Program, Texas A&M University School of Law
Learn More & Register
Leadership for Equity Amid Political Turbulence – Webinar
Oct 8, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM (ET)
SPEAKERS:
Heather Gerken, Dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Tamara F. Lawson, Toni Rembe Dean and Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law
Kellye Y. Testy, Executive Director and CEO, AALS
Learn More & Register
Women and Leadership – Webinar
Nov 13, 2024 from 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM (ET)
SPEAKERS:
Hillary Sale, Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Leadership and Corporate Governance, Georgetown University Law Center; Professor of Management, McDonough School of Business
Alison Spada, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Dean, Georgetown University Law Center
Learn More & Register
Lighting the Way: Leadership Symposium – The University of Tennessee College of Law
October 24-25, 2024
The AALS Section on Leadership and the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy are collaborating with The University of Tennessee College of Law on this symposium which celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Institute for Professional Leadership. The symposium will feature workshops, a call-for-papers panel, and expert panels on law leadership in the context of legal education. The program is scheduled to extend from Thursday afternoon through a Friday evening reception and will include a Thursday evening gala dinner. The symposium schedule will be made available on a symposium website hosted on The University of Tennessee College of Law’s website.
GUEST COLUMN
“The Value of Examining Leaders Within Communities”
Tania Luma discusses the importance of recognizing movement and community leadership in legal academia.
Read More
LAW SCHOOL LEADERSHIP COURSES AND PROGRAMS
We have created a bank of law school leadership course syllabi and descriptions of law school leadership programs.
Please add your leadership course syllabus and/or leadership program description here: Shared Course Syllabi and Program Descriptions
LEADERSHIP SECTION ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hello, all. I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer season so far. It has been a bit warm in Tennessee, but I am surviving!
Through this message, I am passing along a request from the Interim Director of our Institute for Professional Leadership at The University of Tennessee College of Law. As our professional leadership program enters its second decade, we are reflecting and planning. As a result, we also are wondering what everyone else is doing in their law schools relating to professional leadership education and training.
We hope that you will let us know by completing a brief survey. You can find it here. We will share the results of the survey with you once the response collection process has been completed. Although there is no formal end date for the survey at this time, we will begin reviewing responses in the next few weeks. Accordingly, an early response is highly valued.
Either Beth or I are happy to answer any questions about our leadership program or the survey. Beth can be reached at [email protected], and I can be reached at [email protected].
Wishing you well.
Joan
Joan MacLeod Heminway
Rick Rose Distinguished Professor of Law
The University of Tennessee College of Law
