In a fast-paced, energized 24-hours, over 50 participants gathered on October 24 and 25, 2025 at the University of St. Thomas School of Law for the Holloran Center’s Workshop on Professional Identity Formation and the Rule of Law.
Participants included law professors and law school administrators from nearly 30 law schools along with some St. Thomas law students and representatives from the American Bar Association and West Academic.
The Workshop was a culmination of the efforts of the Rule of Law Working Group, a joint enterprise of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and the “Pluralizing” Legal Professional Identity: Democracy, Equity, Justice, and the Law School Curriculum project led by Eduardo Capulong, and funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
The rule of law has long been embedded in the Holloran Center’s foundational professional identity norms:
- 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.
Earlier this year, however, the Holloran Center team came to appreciate that just as professional identity formation has been underemphasized in legal education, the rule of law likewise has not received sufficient attention. In response, the Rule of Law Working Group was created to generate a Rule of Law Learning Outcome and a Holloran Competency Milestone to support legal educators around the country interested in helping students learn more about the rule of law and their special responsibility as lawyers to support the rule of law.
The Workshop included twenty demonstrations of teaching materials focused on the intersection of professional identity formation and the rule of law in a variety of contexts – first-year orientation, lawyering skills, professional responsibility, experiential courses, doctrinal courses. Presenters had the opportunity to model a small portion of their teaching activity, while participants experienced the lesson as students. Each session also offered the opportunity for participants to give feedback, discuss further opportunities for learning, and celebrate successes.
Presenters shared their teaching materials so each participant can replicate the lessons and work to embed professional identity formation and the rule of law into their teaching and programming at their respective law schools.
Regardless of their roles at their law schools, participants found the materials full of opportunities to engage the rule of law in a way that brings students together to dialogue about foundational principles without being partisan or divisive. Participants recognized that being more intentional about engaging rule of law concepts in the context of professional identity formation reaffirms a collective commitment to justice, accountability, and the common good.
The Holloran Center is grateful for the generous support for the Workshop from The Program for Character and Leadership at Wake Forest University and from West Academic (A BARBRI Company). West Academic will be working with the Rule of Law Working Group to distribute the teaching materials presented at the Workshop. Stay tuned for more details!
The Holloran Center’s next event focused on professional identity formation will be on Saturday, April 25, 2026, when we gather for the University of St. Thomas Law Journal Symposium and the First Annual Holloran Center Conference and Awards Dinner.
