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Implementation Plan

Creating an Upper-Level Course to Comply with the Revised ABA Standards

By: David A. Grenardo, Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, University of St. Thomas School of Law

The revised ABA standards mandate that law schools provide substantial opportunities for their law students to develop their professional identities. Prior to the revised standards, some schools had already created mandatory 1L classes that entail some type of professional identity formation. The Holloran Center’s website lists schools with their corresponding classes that include professional formation or professional development, and the Holloran Center continues to add syllabi for each of those classes. The classes range from 0 credits to 8 credits.

Before joining the University of St. Thomas School of Law, I created and taught an upper-level course that intentionally and explicitly introduced the concepts of professional identity and professional identity formation. The overwhelming response from the students who took the class was extremely positive.

After attending one of the Holloran Center’s workshops in 2016, I came back to my law school at the time (St. Mary’s University School of Law) on fire with a determination to create a course that introduced professional identity to students and allowed students to develop their professional identities. I drafted a course proposal and submitted it to the faculty committee, but the class failed to obtain a majority of the committee’s approval. The full faculty did not approve the proposed course.

Four years later, I had gained a more thorough understanding of professional identity formation and decided to design another professional identity formation course. In creating the class, I spoke with law students to hear what they thought would be useful and interesting. For instance, as St. Mary’s is a Catholic and Marianist law school, I wanted to incorporate some basic Catholic principles and concepts, such as the Catholic Social Teachings, and the origins of the Marianist Order, to help students discover how those concepts and information might be incorporated into their own approach to the law. The students thought that idea was good, but they strongly suggested that a survey of the major spiritual traditions would provide broader perspectives on how to approach life as an individual and a professional. As a result, I added an entire section to discuss the basic history and tenets of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and secular spirituality. I also added a writing assignment in which students wrote about how two different faith traditions would approach a current legal issue. Adding this section resulted in three major effects:

1) students gained an appreciation of other spiritual traditions and examined how they could incorporate some of those traditions’ teachings into their own lives;

2) students learned about the vast similarities between the different faith traditions; and

3) learning about other types of spiritual traditions enhanced the students’ cross-cultural competency.

That writing assignment should also help students understand the different viewpoints that clients and team members may bring when they work with others. One student specifically mentioned that he had no idea how similar Islam and Catholicism are until he took this class, and he was disavowed of a number of negative stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam that were promulgated through movies he had seen.

The course description in the course proposal I submitted, which was approved by both the curriculum committee and later the faculty, stated the following:

Course Description:

This course enables law students to identify characteristics important to being good lawyers and characteristics employers of all kinds are looking for in graduating law students. Law students will also explore ethical and moral dilemmas through inter-faith discussions that will allow them to continue to develop their own moral compasses and professional identities. In particular, faculty and practitioners of different faith traditions and value systems (e.g., Catholic, Jewish, Buddhism, Muslim, atheism, etc.) will work through ethical and moral situations faced by lawyers and share how their particular faith or value-system affects their decision-making. Students will also examine how their own faith traditions, as well as the Catholic and Marianist traditions, apply to their own practice of law and to current legal issues today, such as women’s rights, LGBTQ+ issues, environmental justice, the death penalty, immigrant justice, racial injustice, and social justice. Finally, the class will encourage students to see the practice of law as a calling and their vocation, which will help in their search for meaningful employment that allows them to make a living, serve others, and find joy.

The grades were based entirely on papers regarding, among other things, reflections on what type of lawyers they wanted to be, how they would fulfill all of their vocations (e.g., as lawyer, spouse, sibling, daughter/son, friend) as professionals, and how they changed in law school for better and/or for worse. Several additional writing assignments, including drafting a eulogy for themselves (an exercise I borrowed from Neil Hamilton’s Ethical Leadership in Organizations class) and interviewing a lawyer about one of their dream jobs, are described in the edited syllabus for this class (see below).

I also invited a number of graduates to speak to the class. The guest speakers included a judge and lawyers who practiced in a variety of areas, such as Big Law and solo practitioners. After a couple of guest speakers talked about finishing near or at the top of the class, the class requested a speaker who did not finish near the top of the class yet enjoyed a successful legal career. I obliged, and the students truly appreciated that speaker and all of the speakers they heard.

The last day of class we went on a retreat off campus at Tecaboca, a retreat facility just outside of the city of San Antonio. During the four-hour retreat, we talked about the class, and I also gave them time to reflect on their own, with others, and ultimately write a letter to their future self in five years. We enjoyed lunch together as well. Some of the students said it was their most meaningful and memorable experience of law school. It was a moving and powerful experience for me, too, as I felt connected to these students and their professional identity development.

A common theme in the students’ reaction to the class was that the class should be mandatory for all students (although the experience/dynamic would be different if the class was required rather than elective). The law students expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity to engage in self-reflection and to explore what areas of law they would most enjoy and what would bring them joy during and after their legal careers.

Below is an edited syllabus of the class that does not include university and class policy language regarding attendance, laptops, accommodations, etc. The edited syllabus below is also attached here.

Should you have any questions or comments about the course, please email me at gren2380@stthomas.edu.

David Grenardo is a Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

FOUNDATIONS OF LAWYERING SYLLABUS

LW7613 COURSE GOALS:

By the end of the course you will:

Understand that the legal profession is a vocation, identify your gifts and talents, and analyze the places where you likely fit into the legal profession based on your own talents and passion.
Understand the characteristics and traits that make up an excellent law student and lawyer, and analyze how you can improve in those areas.
Identify the ethical and moral dilemmas that you may face as a lawyer, and continue to develop your own moral compasses by analyzing how you would respond to those dilemmas.
Identify the key aspects of the Marianist origin and traditions, as well as your own faith tradition, and analyze how you can incorporate aspects of the Marianist origin and traditions and your own faith tradition into your life and career.
Understand the Catholic and Marianist traditions, particularly the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and Catholic Social Teachings, and apply those traditions and other faith traditions to your practice of law and to a current legal issue today such as women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ issues, environmental justice, the death penalty, immigrant justice, racial injustice, and social justice.

COURSE STRUCTURE:

The required text for this class is The Formation of Professional Identity: The Path From Student to Lawyer by Patrick Emery Longan, Daisy Hurst Floyd, and Timothy W. Floyd. Moreover, there will be classroom handouts and materials (many are listed below in the Assignments section) made available on Canvas that will supplement the source material.

READING ASSIGNMENTS AND PREPARATION:

Assignments

Unit I: Vocation and Professional Identity Formation

Class: Vocation
Readings: Susan J. Stabile, The Practice of Law as Response to God’s Call, 32 Seattle U. L. Rev. 389 (2009);
Pages 365-371, 391-395, and 400-403 from Jerry Organ, From Those to Whom Much Has Been Given, Much Is Expected: Vocation, Catholic Social Teaching, and the Culture of a Catholic Law School, 1 J. Cath. Soc. Thought 361 (2004)

Class: Exploring Vocation and Exemplary Law Student and Lawyer Characteristics
Reading: Neil Hamilton, Connecting Prospective Law Students’ Goals To The Competencies That Clients And Legal Employers Need To Achieve More Competent Graduates And Stronger Applicant Pools And Employment Outcomes, 9 St. Mary’s J. Legal Mal. & Ethics 260 (2019)

Class: Exploring Vocation and Exemplary Law Student and Lawyer Characteristics Continued
Readings: Lawrence S. Krieger & Kennon M. Sheldon, What Makes Lawyers Happy? A Data–Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, 83 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 554 (2015);
14 Questions from Neil W. Hamilton’s Roadmap: The Law Student’s Guide to Meaningful Employment, 2d ed., American Bar Association, 2018

Class: Professional Identity Formation, Introduction and Overview, Motivation
Reading: Excerpts from The Formation of Professional Identity: The Path from Student to Lawyer by Patrick Emery Longan, Daisy Hurst Floyd, and Timothy W. Floyd, 2020

Class: Professional Identity Formation, Competence, Fidelity to the Client
Reading: Excerpts from The Formation of Professional Identity: The Path from Student to Lawyer by Patrick Emery Longan, Daisy Hurst Floyd, and Timothy W. Floyd, 2020

Class: Professional Identity Formation, Fidelity to the Law, Public Spiritedness
Reading: Excerpts from The Formation of Professional Identity: The Path from Student to Lawyer by Patrick Emery Longan, Daisy Hurst Floyd, and Timothy W. Floyd, 2020

Class: Professional Identity Formation, Civility, Practical Wisdom, Future of Legal Profession
Reading: Excerpts from The Formation of Professional Identity: The Path from Student to Lawyer by Patrick Emery Longan, Daisy Hurst Floyd, and Timothy W. Floyd, 2020

Class: Interview with a Practicing Lawyer
Assignment: outside of class students will interview a lawyer or individual who has one of the law student’s dream jobs

Unit II: Learning From the Wisdom Traditions

Class: Jewish Spirituality
Reading: Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed by Philip Sheldrake

Class: Christian Spirituality

Reading: Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed by Philip Sheldrake

Class: Muslim Spirituality
Reading: Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed by Philip Sheldrake

Class: Hindu Spirituality

Reading: Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed by Philip Sheldrake

Class: Buddhist Spirituality
Reading: Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed by Philip Sheldrake

Class: Secular Spirituality
Reading: Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed by Philip Sheldrake

Unit III: Catholic & Marianist Traditions

Class: Introduction to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition
Readings: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: Core Principles for the College or University, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, 2017;

The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: A Conversation at Boston College, 2010;

Pages 403-412 from John M. Breen, Justice and Legal Education: A Critique, 36 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 383 (2005)

Class: Catholic Social Teaching
Reading: Pages 113-165 from SJ Thomas Massaro, Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action, 2000

Class: Introduction to the Marianist Tradition
Reading: Excerpts from John Habjan, S.M., Society of Mary: Marianists, Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, Vol. 11, No. 2, December 2007, 198-217, University of Notre Dame

Class: Marianists and Higher Education
Reading: Characteristics of Marianist Universities, Association of Marianist Universities, Chaminade University, St. Mary’s University, University of Dayton, 2019;

Reading: David A. Grenardo, Marianist Law Schools: Demonstrating the Courage to be Catholic, 60 J. Cath. Legal Stud. (2022 Forthcoming)

Class: Retreat
Reading: Excerpts from William L. Droel, The Spirituality of Work: Lawyers, 1989

GRADES:

Final grades will be based on the completion of journal entries (70%), a short paper regarding a current legal topic analyzed through faith tradition (15%), and a eulogy (15%). Grades can also be increased or decreased as set forth above.

Journal Entries (70%):

Students are required to submit journal entries throughout the semester as requested by the professor. I will give you ample time to submit each entry. These journal entries will be treated confidentially.

Purpose. Journal entries are neither research assignments nor reports on the reading or what speakers said. They are designed to help each student reflect upon and integrate assigned readings and class discussions on a topic with her or his own faith and ethics. The impact of the presentation, readings, and discussions on the student’s pre-class view of the topic is important.

Content. Throughout the semester, the student will be responsible for journal entries that answer specific questions relating to the assigned readings, speaker presentations, and class discussions. Be sure to mention at least some of the readings in your journal entries.

One of the journal entries will be based on an interview you set up and conduct with an attorney or individual who currently has one of your dream jobs. Your journal entry will answer the following questions: How they reached their current position? What advice do they have for you to do the same? What is your plan to reach that position? The interview, which you must arrange and schedule, will take the place of a class period.

Grading. Journal entries must be between 600 and 750 words, typed and double spaced. Indicate word count on each journal entry. Even if you are absent for a class covering a particular journal topic, you still must submit a journal entry for that topic.

Short Paper Using Faith Traditions (15%):

This paper will include analysis of a current legal topic through the lens of multiple (2 or more) faith traditions. You must examine a current legal topic and analyze how it would be resolved through the lens of two or more faith traditions. Areas where current legal topics can be found are listed below, but this list is certainly not exhaustive.

Social Justice
Women and Justice
Economic Justice
Racial Justice
Environmental Justice
Orientation and Justice
“Consistent Life Ethic” Issues: Abortion, War, Death Penalty, Euthanasia

The paper must be between 750 and 1,000 words, typed and double spaced. This paper is due April 28^th.

Eulogy Assignment (15%):

Purpose. Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, advises each of us “to begin with the end in mind.” One method of doing so is to think through what you hope your eulogy might be. I hope you do not see this exercise as morbid. For a spiritual person, thinking about dying is simply thinking about what we must transcend with God’s help. If the eulogy exercise is too difficult for you, see the alternative below under Content.

Content. First, reflect on the eulogies you have heard in your lifetime. Which ones had the most profound impact on you? Why? Then ask yourself, “What I most want people to remember about me is _____. “ Or “At the end of my life, what I would like to know about myself is ________.” Next, does your eulogy reflect your values and principles? Is it clear to what you have given your heart in life?

If the eulogy exercise is too difficult for you, you can do this exercise by thinking about your life as a book, and you are writing chapters as you live your life. What is the theme of your book? What is the theme of the particular chapter you are living now? Write down the likely topics of the chapters you see ahead of you.

Also, speak with at least two people to discuss this assignment. One of them should be over 60 and retired. Ask them about their life in terms of how they would have answered the question above at your stage in life, and how they answer the question now at their stage of life. Have they changed their minds about what the “end” of their life should be? How do they describe “to what have I given my heart?” What is their legacy? What advice do they have about your legacy? You must include some reflection on what you find out from these interviews in your written eulogy.

Grading. The eulogy must be between 750 and 1,000 words, typed and double spaced. It will be treated confidentially. You will receive full credit for completing the assignment as stated above. Unsatisfactory work must be revised and resubmitted until it is acceptable to the professor. Indicate word count on the eulogy.

The Eulogy is also due April 28^th.

November 8, 2022 by hami3258

David Grenardo

Required Reading: Imposter Syndrome in the Legal Profession and an Exercise for Law Students

By: David A. Grenardo, Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, University of St. Thomas School of Law

Professional identity formation, which involves teaching law students to recognize their responsibility to others, particularly clients, and encouraging students to develop the professional competencies of a practicing lawyer, has gained considerable prominence in the legal academy. The ABA revised its standards to require that all law schools provide substantial opportunities for law students to develop their professional identity.

Professional identity formation relies on students to identify the professional competencies they excel in currently and the competencies in which they need to improve, and they must work to develop those competencies. Part of that process requires an accurate self-understanding of who law students are. The imposter syndrome serves as a sinister force that threatens a law student’s ability to develop her professional identity and to succeed as a lawyer. The pervasiveness and negative effects of the imposter syndrome warrant that as law schools incorporate professional identity formation into their curriculum, they should address imposter syndrome with their students.

The University of Dayton Law Review recently published an article on imposter syndrome. Part I of the article briefly discusses professional identity and how it requires self-reflection and self-awareness. Part II explains imposter syndrome in general, and Part III examines imposter syndrome and its prevalence in the legal profession. Part IV provides practical, tangible ways for law schools, professors, and law students to tackle imposter syndrome. The article concludes that law schools should help law students facing imposter syndrome overcome it.

That fourteen-page article on imposter syndrome became part of the required readings for all 1Ls in a class I teach at the University of St. Thomas School of Law called Moral Reasoning for Lawyers, which introduces students to the concept of professional identity formation. The class is taught the week prior to the beginning of the fall semester for all law students.

Not only can law schools include this article in classes regarding professional identity formation, but they can also incorporate the article into any class. I did an exercise in my Contracts and Business Associations classes last year with the article. I posted the article on Canvas under Discussions with the following prompt:

“Please read the attached short law review article on the issue of imposter syndrome in law school and the legal profession.

Discuss any aspect of the article that stood out to you.

Click the reply button below to begin your post and also reply to at least two other posts.”

When I created the Discussion in Canvas, I checked the following boxes:

Canvas Selection Options for Discussions

One of the ways to help law students surmount imposter syndrome is to share their feelings about it with others, and I was blown away by the honesty, sincerity, and empathy that students demonstrated with the exercise when they shared their experiences and feelings with each other about imposter syndrome.

Since students could not see any posts before they published their first post, students who admitted they suffered from imposter syndrome in their initial post (which constituted an overwhelming majority of the students) often expressed relief, comradery, and bewilderment when they were able to read and post about how many of their classmates similarly revealed their own struggles with imposter syndrome.

The discussion consisted exclusively of understanding and encouraging posts. I recognize that the students knew I would be reading their posts, but the genuinely caring posts to and about each other went beyond my hopeful expectations for the exercise. Perhaps law students are more comfortable with sharing their feelings in e-discussions these days. Whatever the reason for the wonderful and community-building discussion, it served as a powerful exercise for the students.

Whether you decide to integrate imposter syndrome into the curriculum through a class (professional identity formation or otherwise), student and/or professor panels, or some other measure, all law schools should raise this issue to help law students conquer imposter syndrome.

Should you have any questions or comments about this post, please email me at gren2380@stthomas.edu.

David Grenardo is a Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

November 3, 2022 by hami3258

Jordan Furlong

Competence Starter Kit

By: Jordan Furlong, Canadian Legal Sector Analyst, Forecaster, Speaker, and Consultant

In a previous post, I discussed how the Law Society of British Columbia (the regulator of lawyers and legal services in the province of B.C.) asked me to suggest reforms to its lawyer licensing system. In my 82-page report submitted in May 2022, I recommended that B.C. create a competence framework for entry-level fitness to practice law and design a competence-based licensing system based on that framework. In September 2022, the Law Society accepted that recommendation.

In my report, I was reluctant to give the Law Society my opinion on the proper constituent elements of entry-level competence in their province. That decision has to be made by experts with much more experience and proficiency than me, in consultation with a very wide group of stakeholders.

But I was invited to consider that there would be value in suggesting a sort of “starter kit” of competencies in a suggested framework, in order to guide the earliest stages of the consultation process and give the directors a sense of what such a framework might look like. After extensive research and reflection, I came up with the following:

Knowledge of the Law

- Administrative law and procedure
- Business and corporate law and procedure
- Civil litigation, procedure, and remedies
- Contract law and drafting
- Constitutional law
- Criminal law, procedure, and sentencing
- Evidence
- Family law and procedure
- Legislative, regulatory, and judicial systems
- Property and tenancy law and procedure
- Torts
- Wills, estates, and trust law and procedure

Understanding of a Lawyer’s Professional Responsibilities

- Client confidentiality
- Client trust accounts
- Conflicts of interest
- Fiduciary duties
- Select other aspects of the Code of Professional Conduct

The Skills of a Lawyer

- Gather relevant facts through interviews and research
- Carry out legal research
- Conduct due diligence
- Draft essential legal documents
- Solve problems using legal knowledge and analysis
- Help negotiate solutions and resolve disputes
- Advocate for a client’s position
- Provide legal advice to clients
- Use law practice technology
- Fulfill the basic business and professional requirements of a private law practice

The Skills of a Professional

- Establish, maintain, and conclude a client relationship
- Establish and maintain respectful and collaborative relationships with colleagues and others
- Communicate accurately and concisely, verbally and in writing, to different audiences
- Understand and use information management systems effectively
- Understand and use financial management systems effectively
- Manage projects and responsibilities to ensure they are completed efficiently, on time, and to an appropriate professional standard
- Organize one’s time and activities to ensure the prompt and successful fulfilment of one’s obligations.

This starter kit can serve as a useful tool for regulators in Canada and, hopefully, the United States, as well as law schools across the continents, in determining what competencies every first-year lawyer should possess.

For an example of what a competence framework for lawyer development and licensing might look like, check out the Building a Better Bar project at the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, and of course, the Roadmap for Employment at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Also, Professors Neil Hamilton and Jerry Organ have done extensive and fantastic work on professional competence development and professional identity formation.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, then please email me at jordan@law21.ca.

Jordan Furlong is a Canadian Legal Sector Analyst, Forecaster, Speaker, and Consultant.

October 27, 2022 by hami3258

Jordan Furlong

Coming Soon: A Competence-Based Approach to Law Licensure

By: Jordan Furlong, Canadian Legal Sector Analyst, Forecaster, Speaker, and Consultant

Nobody is happy with the bar exam, and nobody should be. Licensure candidates who borrow and spend heavily and study for years to earn a law degree have to hit the books again, immediately after graduation, to prepare for a much tougher set of legal knowledge tests whose results actually matter.

Scarcely more than two-thirds of all candidates pass the bar exam, with failure rates especially high among repeat test-takers and members of racialized communities. And nobody has ever established a link between bar exam passage and competence to practice law.

Even the organization that sets the bar exam admits the current version needs to be improved, although the NCBE doesn’t intend to introduce a revamped version until 2026. And if you’re not aware of the serious issues with how the bar exam is executed in practice, go to Twitter and search for the hashtag #barpocalypse. Prepare to be appalled.

The whole situation needs improvement, and every day more people find themselves asking, “Is this really the best we can do? Isn’t there any other way to determine if a person is competent to be admitted to practice law?” As a matter of fact, there is — and a recent development in Canada, to which I’ve contributed, might have brought us a little closer to that better way becoming reality in the United States. That better way, competence-based licensure, represents the future of bar admission.

In our current system, a candidate acquires knowledge-based credentials from a third party (a law school and a board of bar examiners), and regulators accept those credentials as a proxy for readiness to practice law. Nobody directly assesses whether the candidate is actually competent to practice law, in terms of their knowledge, skills, attributes, and experiences. As a result, successful candidates enter the profession plagued by impostor syndrome, while unsuccessful candidates are left to wonder why they fell short.

In a competence-based law licensing system, by contrast, the regulator identifies the precise knowledge, skills, attributes, and experiences that a candidate must possess in order to be minimally competent to practice law, and it creates an accessible process through which candidates can prove to the regulator that they possess those competencies.

In a competence-based licensure system, everyone knows what’s required of a new lawyer, and anyone can acquire and demonstrate possession of those attributes. It’s a far more equitable, rational, defensible, and transparent licensing system. And it’s already been proven to work.

The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority of England & Wales was the first regulator to introduce a competence-based licensing system a few years ago. The SRA, following a lengthy and comprehensive period of study and consultation, identified the essential knowledge and the core competencies of a “Day One” solicitor, as well as the level of proficiency required of each competency at the point of professional entry.

These “competence statements” from the professional regulator then formed the basis of two challenging sets of entrance exams (one for knowledge, the other for practice skills). Combined with a two-year apprenticeship requirement, they replaced all previous requirements for entry to the solicitor profession in England and Wales.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the SRA’s switch to a competence-based systems is this: a law degree is no longer required in order to become a lawyer. The SRA reasoned that if a candidate could pass its difficult entrance exams, that candidate clearly possessed the legal knowledge and skills to be a lawyer.

Crucially, the SRA does not care how a candidate acquires that knowledge and skill. Unlike regulators in the United States, it does not require a licensure candidate to acquire two very similar sets of knowledge credentials. It only cares that the candidate can demonstrate to the regulator possession of the core competencies of entry-point practice. The regulator encourages candidates to acquire that ability in any number of ways.

Competence-based licensure has also emerged as part of the bar admission system in parts of Canada over the past few years. Four Canadian provinces use an entirely skills-based bar admission course called the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP), which is based on an innovative skills-oriented competence framework. And just last year, the province of New Brunswick introduced a detailed competency profile to accompany its new bar admission program.

This was the context in which the Law Society of British Columbia (the regulator of lawyers and legal services in the province of B.C.) asked me last year to suggest reforms to its own lawyer licensing system. The Law Society of B.C. was familiar with my 2020 report and recommendations to the neighboring Law Society of Alberta, “Lawyer Licensing and Competence in Alberta,” which touched on several similar topics. My 82-page report, submitted in May 2022, recommended that B.C. create a competence framework for entry-level fitness to practice law and design a competence-based licensing system based on that framework. In September, the Law Society accepted that recommendation.

The system I recommended for B.C. most closely resembles the SRA’s approach in England & Wales. I suggested that the Law Society engage in extensive consultations with myriad stakeholders in the legal sector — not just lawyers — to determine the essential knowledge, skills, attributes, and experiences that reflect what a member of the public had a right to expect from a lawyer on their first day in practice.

But I also warned against making that competence framework a “wish list” of ideal lawyer attributes, specifying hundreds of different competencies that candidates must acquire and proficiently demonstrate for licensure. “Day One” competence, while it must meet minimum standards, should not be any higher than that; otherwise, you’re just creating (another) barrier to professional entry. In a separate and upcoming post, I will share my suggested “starter kit” of competencies that new lawyers should posses.

Beyond that core recommendation, I made several other non-binding suggestions to the Law Society, including the hot-button idea of dropping the law degree requirement, introducing new instruction in professional responsibility and professional awareness, and making major reforms to the “supervised practice” requirement that all Canadian law licensure candidates must fulfill before bar admission. The Law Society of B.C. has left decisions on all these points to a specially appointed task force.

It will still be several years before the first cohort of lawyers licensed through a competence-based system enters the British Columbia legal profession. Designing a competence framework for lawyers is a major undertaking, all the more challenging given the rapid shifts in our profession and society. Building a licensing process around that framework is another huge job. This is going to take a while.

But it should also change, for the better, the process by which people in B.C. become lawyers. By abandoning an archaic and opaque credentials-based system, and embracing a modern and transparent competence-based system, the Law Society of B.C. will increase public and professional confidence in the ability of lawyers to do their jobs from Day One. It will bring lawyer licensing into line with other professions’ admission systems and go a long way towards defeating “impostor syndrome” among new lawyers.

My sincere hope is that my report dovetails with the existing and burgeoning efforts in other jurisdictions (especially Oregon), so that our profession will one day boast a lawyer licensing system based not on a series of inadequate and exclusionary proxies, but on demonstrated competence to practice law. The public in general, and our clients in particular, deserve at least that much from our profession.

Should you have any question or comments about this post, please feel free to contact me at jordan@law21.ca.

Jordan Furlong is a Canadian Legal Sector Analyst, Forecaster, Speaker, and Consultant.

October 25, 2022 by hami3258

Neil Hamilton

The Standard 303 Revisions Require a Developmental Sequence of Modules in the Curriculum

By: Neil Hamilton, Holloran Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, University of St. Thomas School of Law

The Standard 303 revisions require each law school, over time, to move toward a developmental sequence of modules fostering student reflection and growth regarding professional identity.

New Standard 303(b)(3) requires that “a law school shall provide substantial opportunities to students for the development of a professional identity.” (emphasis added regarding the developmental nature of professional identity and the number of opportunities).
New Interpretation 303-5 defines professional identity. “Professional identity focuses on what it means to be a lawyer and the special obligations lawyers have to their clients and society. The development of a professional identity should involve an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.” (emphasis added regarding the developmental nature of professional identity).
New Interpretation 303-5 continues, “Because developing a professional identity requires reflection and growth over time, students should have frequent opportunities for such development during each year of law school and in a variety of courses and co-curricular and professional development” (emphasis added regarding the developmental nature of professional identity and the number of opportunities).

The Standard 303 revisions clearly require each law school to create a developmental sequence of opportunities for reflection and growth over time so that each student explores and internalizes the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice. This developmental sequence of opportunities to foster each student’s professional identity requires coordination and progression among the modules.

The empirical research on professional identity formation strongly supports guided reflection in one-on-one coaching (especially in the context of authentic professional experiences) as the most effective curriculum to foster this type of student growth. The one-on-one coaching engagements also provide some basis for expert observation necessary for program assessment of our professional identity learning outcomes. There is no empirical evidence that doctrinal coverage and analysis of professional identity topics without guided reflection will make any difference with respect to student development.

New Standard 303(c) requires that a law school shall provide education on cross-cultural competency, equal access, and the elimination of bias, discrimination, and racism at the start of the program of legal education and at least once again before graduation.
New Interpretation 303-6 states that these same values should be included in the Professional Responsibility course.
Since the definition of “professional identity” in Interpretation 303-5 focuses on what it means to be a lawyer and the special obligations lawyers have to their clients and society, and the Interpretation also provides that professional identity development should involve an intentional exploration of the values of the profession, it seems reasonable that the values of cross-cultural competency, equal access, and the elimination of bias, discrimination, and racism should be included in the developmental sequence of opportunities for reflection and growth over time so that each student explores and internalizes them. Again, this developmental sequence of opportunities to foster each student’s professional identity requires coordination and progression among the modules.

It may be that the common committee structure for law school faculties will not be effective to foster this type of change in the curriculum. Curriculum Committees, in my experience, are responsive to proposals for individual courses, and are not generally pro-active in generating coordinated modules across the curriculum. A Curriculum Reform Task Force might contribute initially to this type of coordination, but again, my experience is that the reports of this type of task force end up in a type of “graveyard” with other past curriculum reform task force reports. The type of coordinated change envisioned here is going to take ten to twenty years – one small step at a time. I think the most effective answer is a pro-active Coordinated Standard 303 Modules Committee with membership from all the staff and faculty functions that affect student professional identity formation.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, then please contact me at NWHAMILTON@stthomas.edu.

Neil Hamilton is the Holloran Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota.

October 20, 2022 by hami3258

Sarah Beznoska

Professional Identity Formation and First-Generation Law Students

By: Sarah Dylag Beznoska, Assistant Dean for Student and Career Services,
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University

It comes as no surprise to those of us who work with law students on first destinations and career paths that when the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) studied national employment statistics for the graduating class of 2020, it found that whether or not you are a first-generation law student impacts your career outcomes in the law.

NALP reported: “Overall, Class of 2020 continuing-generation JD students (graduates who have at least one parent or guardian with a JD degree) and continuing-generation college students (graduates who have at least one parent or guardian with a bachelor’s degree or higher, but whose parents/guardians all lack a JD degree) had a higher employment rate and were more likely to be employed in a bar passage required/anticipated job than their first-generation college student peers.”

The Law Student Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) also consistently highlights important disparities related to first-generation law students. From LSSSE, we know that first-generation law students bear more law school debt and face significant stressors related to debt. We know that “the amount of time that first-generation law students [spend] with peers and faculty outside of class [is] significantly less than non-first-generation law students.” LSSSE data has shown that first-generation students also participate in co-curricular opportunities at a lower rate that non-first-generation students, spend more time studying, and spend more time working to support themselves.

This data should be important to everyone in the legal industry, especially as we talk about diversifying our workplaces and our leadership. It is particularly important to me as someone who works in career services at an urban law school that serves a significant population of first-generation college and law students. To provide the best student and career services to our students, we are continually assessing our work through the viewpoint of first-generation students and making adjustments to provide better support.

This assessment can be done for professional identity formation (PIF) too. Understanding and accounting for the unique experiences noted above is critical to developing any comprehensive PIF plan. On the positive side of things, schools can leverage PIF to build belonging for first-generation students. At the same time, being mindful about the time constraints sometimes faced by first-generation students might inform the methods a school chooses for offering PIF opportunities.

First-Generation Students and Law School Culture: Professional Identity to Build Belonging

Belonging matters to law student success, and most especially to first-generation law students. The unique culture of law school and the legal industry can be a challenging adjustment even when someone has lawyers in their family. Without knowing any lawyers or having people already in their network to ask for help, first-generation law students can feel like outsiders from day one. (For some insights on the first-gen experience see: https://abaforlawstudents.com/2021/08/25/first-generation-law-student-challenges/ and https://abaforlawstudents.com/2020/01/01/how-to-thrive-as-a-first-generation-law-student/).

For this reason, I have sometimes been skeptical of the premise of professional identity formation that focuses on students moving from an “outsider” in the profession to an “insider” in the profession. As someone who was a first-generation law student myself (although I was not the first in my family to attend college), I know very personally that not having lawyers in my family or lawyers in my network impacted my law school experience in a negative way. From day one of law school, I internalized deeply that I did not belong and, although my law school trained me well on the doctrinal skills, I never once came to a place there where I felt like an “insider.”

It is because of this personal experience, however, and because of the commitment I have to making sure that first-generation students at the law school where I work never feel this same way, that – as much as I can be skeptical about the terminology of PIF – I think PIF can be leveraged to build more belonging. There are a variety of ways a school might use PIF to increase belonging. For example:

Self-Assessment and Industry-Focused Panels: having students complete self-assessment exercises allows them to identify strengths and values that they bring with them to the profession. Taking it a step further, once schools provide an opportunity for students to identify their strengths and values, schools can offer diverse panels of attorneys to demonstrate the varying skillsets that can make someone successful. Providing students with opportunities to know their own strengths and then to see those things in successful practitioners can help them to feel like there is a place in the law for them and who they are matters.
Mentoring: providing thoughtful mentoring opportunities allows students to feel less alone in their journey through law school. Schools can engage alumni, peers, faculty, and staff in formal and informal mentoring programs with students, giving them a broad set of people to whom they can turn for support. Consider, also, having faculty, staff, or alumni identify themselves to students as first-generation students, so that your first-generation cohort has examples of first-generation success stories.
Student Organizations: schools can support student leaders to create a robust community of student engagement and a space where students can connect with each other and feel less alone. Connecting student organizations to a school’s alumni network can be helpful and assisting student organizations with career-related programs can give students more opportunities to understand the variety of paths in the law.

These three things have worked for us as a starting point to increase belonging at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. We start at day one when we dedicate a portion of our Orientation to professional identity. This Orientation program covers the essential eligibility requirements for the practice of law in Ohio and the 26 Lawyering Effectiveness Factors. More importantly, it includes diverse panel speakers who reflect on what these things mean in their practice, along with when and where they developed these skills.

We also require incoming law students to complete the Law Fit assessment, and we use those assessments with them in their meetings with career advisors. In addition, together with my team in Student and Career Services, we have built a one-on-one alumni mentor program and a one-on-one peer mentor program for every first-year student who enrolls with us. Later this Fall, we will offer a Storytelling event to our student body, in partnership with our First-Generation Law Student Association, focusing on things like times when we and they have felt imposter syndrome and why one’s personal story matters.

First-Generation Students and Time: Creating Meaningful Space for Students to Reflect

One of the foundational concepts behind PIF is reflective thinking and opportunities for reflective exercises to help students understand their values, the values of the profession, and the competencies required to be a successful lawyer. Reflection, in turn, requires time and space that are carved out to allow specifically for it. Time is a valuable resource for all students, but especially for first-generation law students. Therefore, PIF plans must be mindful of these time constraints.

There are a lot of reasons why first-generation students might not have time for PIF. For example, if they are working significant hours outside of the law school in legal or especially in non-legal jobs to support themselves, if they face family or personal expectations or obligations (especially from family members or personal connections who are unfamiliar with the legal industry), if they are trying to plan the logistics of taking two months off (unpaid and without benefits) after graduation to study for the bar exam, or if they are de-railed by a financial, health, or other crisis without social capital or resources to support them. In the optional space of Student and Career Services, when we support students with challenges like these, there is sometimes precious little time or energy available to ask students to reflect on how a chosen work or academic experience contributes to their professional identity.

Worse, when I see my first-generation students struggling with time, I worry that PIF will feel to them like optional engagement that is only possible for those law students who are supported by deep family resources or who are not struggling with other life priorities. I also worry whether they will trust me if I ask them to add to their already overflowing plates the additional work required by PIF. Notably, I believe these students are frequently already very self-directed learners, but they are people with clear and important demands on their time that often do not leave room for any optional piece of the law school curriculum.

For this reason – to bring all students along in PIF – schools must be creative about how and when to include PIF in the law school experience, and be respectful of the time constraints students might face, depending on their circumstances.

Bring PIF to Students: one option, of course, is to build into the existing curriculum opportunities for reflection and discussions about professional identity. But, if that won’t work for your school/classroom, schools might consider inviting the career services team to stop by before or after classes to provide handouts or resources that are aligned with related career paths. Schools can emphasize the importance of related programming that is happening outside of the classroom and encourage students to make strategic decisions about which to attend. Schools can include in other required spaces – Orientation, graduation-required courses, student leader trainings – information about building lawyering skills. Schools can encourage students to work with academic advisors, staff, or alumni to create a plan that works for them, and schools can help those advisors, staff, and alumni to have the PIF information they need to be impactful.
Create a PIF-focused Course: changing the curriculum to include a new course is another option, and one that may or may not be a fit for a school. For better or worse, however, we know that in a world impacted by COVID, general student engagement in optional parts of the law school experience is significantly decreased. Add to that the time constraints we know our first-generation students face and we simply cannot wait for students to come to us. As I’ve learned from my colleagues in the undergraduate space, we are responsible for finding ways to go to them. One way to go to them is to create a credit-bearing course that will reward students for doing PIF work while creating a meaningful space for first-generation and other time-strapped students to include the work among their other priorities.

At Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Students and Career Services has seen some movement with bringing PIF to students. For example, my department no longer expects that attendance will be robust at optional career related programs. Instead, we collaborate with student organizations on panel presentations and visit their student organization meetings to connect. We bring handouts and resources to student-run events, instead of requiring them to come to us for the information. We try to model the behavior we are seeking from students by showing up to the programs and panels that they have organized rather than simply demanding they show up at ours. We also leverage our alumni and peer mentor programs to provide resources to students. It is clear to us that peer-to-peer advising among students is at an all-time high, and rather than discourage or limit this connection, we provide information and resources to support it.

Perhaps most importantly, we try to ask students for input on what kinds of activities will help them most when it comes to lawyering skills. Without exception, they prefer activities that require engagement from them, opportunities to become involved in the community through pro bono work, and learning experiences where they connect with others. As a result, we are adjusting our traditional Student and Career Services programming to offer more of these kinds of experiences, and fewer lectures/presentations, while also incorporating reflective coaching questions into our everyday conversations with students.

Conclusion

Supporting first-generation law students to succeed is a critical component of increasing diversity in the legal industry. When PIF is offered thoughtfully and in a way that is mindful of time as a resource, it can be a place where schools can provide that support, not just through efforts focused on belonging, but also efforts focused on financial wellness, building support networks, introductions to professional norms, and academic planning.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, then please feel free to contact me at s.beznoska@csuohio.edu.

Sarah Dylag Beznoska is the Assistant Dean for Student and Career Services at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

October 13, 2022 by hami3258

Sarah Beznoska

Leveraging Staff Departments in Professional Identity Implementation Efforts

By: Sarah Dylag Beznoska, Assistant Dean for Student and Career Services,
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University

It’s a regular day in the Office of Student and Career Services at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. My day starts by meeting with a second-year student who is in tears because they did not receive any offers from our recent on-campus interview program. After reminding them that on-campus interviews are a very small segment of the legal market, I ask more questions than I answer: why they applied to the large law firms participating in on-campus interviews? Whether it is consistent with the conversations we had last year? What is their interest, if any, in public service? How they felt during the interviews? And what next steps they might take that are consistent with their strengths and values?

At noon, I moderate a panel discussion of site supervisors from our externship program, who talk about the learning opportunities available through the program. We focus on the skills that students develop on-site and the ways that the opportunities prepare students for employment goals. Throughout the program, I remind students about the deadlines for the program’s application process, noting that I understand they are busy, but I won’t waive the deadlines. If they are having trouble meeting deadlines, which is an essential lawyering skill, they can meet with a member of my team to talk about calendaring and time management.

After the panel, while eating lunch, I review a student’s cover letter for a new law clerk role. Knowing from conversations with the student that they have a lot more relevant experience than the cover letter demonstrates, I pull up their LinkedIn profile and send along some reflective questions to get them thinking about how they can leverage their past experience, even the non-legal experience, to demonstrate to this employer that they can do the work.

In the late afternoon, I meet with several first-year students, who are required to have an initial meeting with my office before the end of the semester. We cover everything from what brought them to law school to what experiences they have enjoyed most during their first semester to what steps they should be thinking about moving forward. We talk about graduation requirements, summer internships, and managing student debt, before I send them away with a Winter Break to-do list to advance their professional development.

As the day ends, I have a conversation with one of our third-year students, who has had a negative experience with a colleague in a student organization. We brainstorm some ways to address the issue, while remaining professional and consistent with their own values as a person. We also talk about taking some time for self-care and connecting with their personal support network to help process some strong emotions about the experience.

I close the day with an email from a recent graduate who has landed their first long-term post-graduate job. I congratulate them on success in what I know has been a long process, and I collect the ABA-required information for employment reporting before heading home.

This work—the day-to-day work I do in Student and Career Services, a combined department we launched in 2019 at Cleveland-Marshall—is built on some of the foundational premises of professional identity foundation. On a good day, I like to say that I help students, from day one, to assess and plan their entire law school experience with the goal of employability—coursework, student organizations and leadership, wellness support networks, externships, work experiences, and career outcomes. I meet students where they are at in their personal and professional development, and I talk with them about everything they are doing at the College of Law. Beyond that, I frequently hear about their personal life challenges, their families, their worries, and their successes. I hear students’ stories, I listen to their reflections on the experiences they are having in law school and the legal market, and I encourage them towards action items that move them along toward becoming the lawyers they want to be.

In other words, although we don’t do it all, we do a lot of professional identity formation in my office. In career services, we ask students to do self-assessment of their skills, strengths, and values during the fall semester of their first year. We offer practice area and industry panel presentations to allow students to explore the legal market. We help students to tell their own employability story through cover letters, resumes, and LinkedIn, in language that would resonate with legal employers. We support students on academic advising matters and the process of finding an experiential learning opportunity to fit their goals.

In student services, our focus is on developing responsible student leaders of our student organizations, empowering students to collaborate with their peers on events and programs, and developing wellness initiatives to create a culture of wellness and to help students embrace wellness as a part of their professional development.

It has been nothing but inspiring to see the professional identity formation (PIF) community embrace all of these things, and more, in developing implementation plans for the ABA’s professional identity standard. Inspiring to join a community of like-minded teachers and student-centered supporters, who are focused on helping students to build meaningful experiences towards successful outcomes. Inspiring to hear the creative ways that faculty engage students in PIF-related exercises and have conversations that don’t fit within the space of Student and Career Services. Inspiring to see institutional collaborations happening to benefit students.

So, when collaborating, don’t forget your staff departments! Engaging your talented staff team is as easy as reaching out to them to learn about their programs and offerings for students. Just ask! Build your PIF implementation plan to include Student and Career Services, to increase your employment outcomes for students, and to leverage all of the resources available in your institutions. I promise that your staff will be happy to hear from you!

If you have any questions or comments about this post, then please feel free to contact me at s.beznoska@csuohio.edu.

Sarah Dylag Beznoska is the Assistant Dean for Student and Career Services at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

October 7, 2022 by hami3258

Louis Bilionis, Neil Hamilton

Latest Article from Bilionis and Hamilton on ABA Revisions of 303(b) and (c) Published by NALP’s Professional Development Quarterly

NALP just published the third and final installment of Louis Bilionis and Neil Hamilton’s three-part series on the Standard 303 revisions. Part 1 and Part 2 appeared in the May and June 2022 editions of NALP’s PDQ, respectively.

The last article in the series, which is titled “Revised ABA Standards 303 (b) and (c) and the Formation of a Lawyer’s Professional Identity, Part 3: Cross-Cultural Competency, Equal Access, and the Elimination of Bias, Discrimination, and Racism,” can be read here.

September 28, 2022 by hami3258

Neil Hamilton

Introduction to the Definition of Professional Identity and the Formation of a Professional Identity

By: Neil Hamilton, Holloran Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, University of St. Thomas School of Law

This short Holloran Center definition of student professional identity and the formation of a professional identity is the result of a process of inquiry, dialogue within the Center and with others nationally, and reflection since the founding of the Center in 2006. Starting in 2006, the Center focused on synthesizing the core values of the profession from the Preamble to the Model Rules, the three ABA reports and the Conference of Chief Justice Reports on Professionalism, legal scholars’ definitions of professionalism, and our study of how exemplary lawyers defined the core values of the profession.

Providentially, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching published Educating Clergy, the first of its empirically-based studies of higher education for the professions in 2006, followed by Educating Lawyers in 2007, Educating Engineers in 2009, and Educating Nurses and Educating Physicians, in 2010. The Carnegie studies introduced “professional identity” and “professional formation” as central to each new entrant’s development in higher education for all of the professions including legal education.

By 2012, we thought that “professional identity” and “professional formation” were more useful than “professionalism” because: (1) they incorporated the same core values; (2) they were terms applicable across higher education for the professions which both increased their fundamental importance and meant that we could learn from higher education in the other professions; and (3) they avoided the narrow understanding of many practicing lawyers that “professionalism” was principally focused on respect for others.

Since 2012, the Center has been in a continuous process of further inquiry, dialogue, and reflection to create a short definition of professional identity and professional identity formation that emphasizes both the two most foundational core values of the legal profession (off of which all the other needed capacities and skills needed to practice law build), and also the journey for students to internalize and demonstrate the two foundational core values. Notably, the two foundational values are emphasized in every major faith tradition and nearly all of the major secular philosophies.

We have a consensus among the two co-directors, the associate director, and the three Holloran Center Fellows, and we offer this Holloran Center short definition of both professional identity and professional identity formation to inform your dialogue and reflection on the Standard 303 revisions.

What Is a Law Student’s Professional Identity and What Is Professional Identity Formation? — A Short Introduction
Holloran Center – September 2022

Generally speaking, professional identity is “a representation of self, achieved in stages over time, during which the characteristics, values, and norms of the … profession are internalized, resulting in an individual thinking, acting, and feeling like a … [member of the profession].”

For law students and lawyers more specifically, we can synthesize a succinct definition of professional identity from the Preamble to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the four major reports on professionalism from the ABA and the Conference of Chief Justices, and Holloran Center research. For law students and lawyers, professional identity is grounded in two foundational norms and values that law students and lawyers must understand, internalize, and demonstrate:

a deep responsibility and commitment to serving clients, the profession, and the rule of law;
a commitment to pro-active continuous professional development toward excellence at all the competencies needed to serve others well in the profession’s work.

“Professional identity formation” is a developmental process beginning in law school and extending over a career that “should involve an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.”

Professional identity formation principally involves a process of socialization. The professional-to-be begins as an outsider to the professional community and its ways, values, and norms. Through experiences over time, inside and outside the classroom and the law school, the individual gradually becomes more and more an insider, “moving from a stance of observer on the outside or periphery of the practice through graduated stages toward becoming a skilled participant at the center of the action.”

The process continues throughout one’s career and features “a series of identity transformations that occur primarily during periods of transition” often marked by anxiety, stress, and risk for the developing professional. This process of socialization is a product of the developing lawyer’s social interactions and activities in environments authentic to the legal profession’s culture and enriched by coaching, mentoring, modeling, reflection, and other supportive strategies.

We hope this definition of professional identity and this description of professional identity formation can serve as a useful entry point for a law school’s faculty and staff interested in discussing and reflecting upon professional identity and professional identity formation in the context of the mission of the law school.

Please click below to view the definition with its endnotes.

Defining Professional Identity and Professional Identity Formation

Neil Hamilton is the Holloran Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota.

September 21, 2022 by hami3258

Dawn Figueiras

One Law School’s Faculty-Approved Implementation Plan for Complying with the ABA’s Revised Standards 303(b) and 303(c)

The American Bar Association (ABA) requires that all law schools develop a plan in the fall of 2022 regarding how schools will implement in the fall of 2023 the revised ABA standards 303(b) and 303(c) that cover professional identity formation and bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism. Appalachian School of Law (ASL) tasked its Curriculum Committee to draft a proposed plan for compliance with the revised standards. The Committee, chaired by Professor Dawn Figueiras, included the Honorable Larry G. Elder, Professor Jeremy Hurley, Associate Dean of Students Shelly James, Dean of Experiential Learning Lucy McGee, Professor Ken Russell, Chief Academic Officer Laura Wilson, and President & Dean Keith Faulkner. The committee spent the summer discussing what ASL already does in these spaces and how ASL would utilize those efforts, along with new ones, to create a proposed plan for the faculty to review. Professor Figueiras participated in webinars sponsored by AALS, SUNY-University at Buffalo School of Law, and others, and gratefully utilized the resources links compiled and hosted on the Buffalo School of Law website. On August 8-9, 2022, at ASL’s Faculty Retreat, the Committee presented its plan to the faculty and engaged in productive discussions to revise the plan. Although the ABA did not set a date for completion of the plan, the full Faculty unanimously adopted the Implementation Plan below on August 16, 2022.

The following is the IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR REVISED ABA STANDARD 303’s REQUIREMENTS approved by the ASL faculty.

ADOPTED ASL Implementation Plan for Revised Standard 303 2022-08-16 (003)

A. Revised 303(b)(3)—“provide substantial opportunities to students for . . . the development of a professional identity.”

Orientation: Administration of the “Professionalism Oath” by a Virginia Supreme Court Justice or Court of Appeals Judge. The Professionalism Oath is modeled after the oath given to new members of the Virginia State Bar about their professional duties and responsibilities; students take the Oath after being sworn and sign the Oath as well.
Students take the Professionalism Oath at ASL
During Orientation/early during 1L year: Organize a visit to a Court, preferably a federal court; give students opportunities for reflection on their experience.
Fall Semester, 1L year: Revise “Introduction to Community Service” course to incorporate at least three lectures/sessions about concepts of professionalism and professional identity formation. Rename course: “Building a Professional Identity.
a. Possible examples of topics may include: What kind of lawyer do I want to be? What character/personality strengths do I possess and what does that mean for my career choices? How do I conduct myself in a professional manner? How do I incorporate community service and pro bono service into my career?
Spring Semester, 1L year: Lecture series for 1Ls (3 events) involving professionalism and/or professional identity formation. This would be incorporated as part of the Dean’s new “Professionalism, Leadership, and Transition to Practice” (“PLT”) program.
Summer after 1L year: Students participate in an Externship placement and keep a journal documenting their experiences and self-reflections.
2L year: The PLT program will incorporate four formal sessions on leadership; at least one session will discuss and encourage leadership within the legal profession.
Annually: Professionalism Dinner event (part of PLT program). Select a bar leader to receive a Professionalism Award from ASL. Invite attorneys and judges to attend, with professors, to engage in discussion with students regarding professionalism/ethical issues.

B. New 303(c)—“provide education to law students on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism … at the start of the program … and at least once again before graduation.” “For students engaged in law clinics or field placements, the second educational occasion will take place before, concurrently with, or as part of their enrollment in clinical or field placement courses.”

Orientation: Lecture/session by ASL Diversity Mentor Virginia Supreme Court Justice Cleo Powell. (Fulfills the requirement for one educational experience at the start of the J.D. program)
Spring Semester, 1L year: Incorporate into the required “Introduction to Externships” course at least one mandatory session on bias, cross-cultural competency, and/or racism. (Fulfills the requirement for a second educational experience prior to/concurrently with externships and other field placements.)
Spring Semester, 2L year: Incorporate into the required “Professional Responsibility” course at least one mandatory session on bias, cross-cultural competency, and/or racism.
3L year: The Professionalism, Leadership, and Transition to Practice (“PLT”) program will include six sessions on Transition to Practice; at least one session will incorporate discussion of issues involving bias/cross-cultural competency/racism that arise in legal practice.
Curriculum-wide: Encourage all faculty to incorporate discussions of racism/cross-cultural competency/bias into their courses, wherever the regular course of study offers such an opportunity. The subject matter should be documented in the Course Description and in the Course’s Syllabus by the professor.
Elective Courses: Offer electives with a significant component addressing bias, cross-cultural competency, and/or racism. Elective courses will outline in their Course Descriptions/Syllabi how bias, cross-cultural competency, and/or racism are addressed in the course. Currently, ASL offers “History of Race and the Law” (co-taught by the Hon. Larry Elder and adjunct Professor and ASL Diversity Mentor Chris Young) as a general elective in both Fall and Spring semesters, and “Poverty, Health, and the Law” (taught by Dean of Experiential Learning
Professor Chris Young

Lucy McGee as a general elective in Fall and Spring semesters as well as summer sessions. This course is a pre-requisite for student participation in ASL’s Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic. The Clinic is a joint project of Ballad Health Systems, ASL, and Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business.

Should you have any questions or if you would like to discuss the plan, then please contact Professor Dawn Figueiras at dfigueiras@asl.edu.

Guest Contributor Professor Dawn Figueiras

August 22, 2022 by hami3258

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