By Felicia Bennett, Holloran Center Coordinator

This is the second of two posts highlighting the scholarship found in Volume 74, No. 1 of the Journal of Legal Education.

As mentioned in our first article roundup, this issue is replete with relevant, practical, and thoughtful material on leadership and professional formation.

Today’s post covers the themes of legal education during times of institutional change and generative AI and professional formation. We believe these articles will be particularly useful in developing a thoughtful response to the unique technological and sociopolitical challenges that the legal profession is currently facing.

Below you will find article summaries with links to the scholarship and suggested, related reading on the Holloran Center Blog.

Lawyer Formation in Times of Institutional and Social Change

Tania Luma, “Obeying in Advance Will Not Save You: How Adaptive Leadership Can Help Legal Education Stay Mission Driven in Times of Authoritarianism and Fear,” Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 74, No. 1 (Summer 2026).

This article identifies current challenges to democratic structures, especially in legal education, and dives into principles of leadership that can help institutions resist “mission drift” and remain committed to core values.

• Related Holloran Center reading:
  Holloran Center Rule of Law Materials Now Available

Brent Godfrey, “What Do We Do at the End of a World?: Cultivating Emergent Leadership in a Time of Collapse,” Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 74, No. 1 (Summer 2026).

This article challenges current notions of leadership and presents ideas on how leadership, legal education, and lawyering might be approached in a world experiencing ecological, economic, and social change.

• Related Holloran Center reading:
  Well-Being and Professional Identity: Inextricably Linked

Professional Identity in a GenAI World

Aric K. Short, “Who’s the Lawyer Now? Professional Identity in a GenAI World,” Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 74, No. 1 (Summer 2026).

This article focuses on three central questions: the relationship between GenAI and the development of a professional identity; the examination of practical judgment as an irreplaceable human skill; and the impacts of GenAI related time-savings on the legal profession.

• Related Holloran Center reading:
  Generative AI and Preparing Students for a Transformed Legal Profession
  Living Our Professional Values Through AI

We encourage readers interested in these questions to explore the full issue of the Journal of Legal Education and to continue the conversation about how legal education can help future lawyers develop the capacities necessary to serve clients, the profession, and society well.