Towards Engaged Scholarship

40 Pages Posted: 26 Feb 2013 Last revised: 9 Feb 2017

See all articles by John R. Nolon

John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University

Michelle Bryan

University of Montana - Alexander Blewett III School of Law

Michael Burger

Columbia University - Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Kim Diana Connolly

SUNY Buffalo Law School

Nestor M. Davidson

Fordham University School of Law

Matthew J. Festa

South Texas College of Law; Rice University; U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School

Jill Gross

Pace Law School

Lisa Heinzerling

Georgetown University Law Center

Keith H. Hirokawa

Albany Law School

Tim Iglesias

University of San Francisco - School of Law

Patrick C. McGinley

West Virginia University - College of Law

Sean F. Nolon

Vermont Law School

Uma Outka

University of Kansas - School of Law

Jessica Owley

University of Miami - School of Law

Kalyani Robbins

Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Jonathan D. Rosenbloom

Albany Law School

Christopher Serkin

Vanderbilt Law School

Date Written: May 2, 2013

Abstract

The practice-oriented influences of the Carnegie Foundation’s Educating Lawyers and the report of the Clinical Legal Education Association, Best Practices for Legal Education, have been working on the academy for only five years; law teachers are just now learning how they can better prepare their students to practice law “effectively and responsibly in the contexts they are likely to encounter as new lawyers.” These reports have stimulated a vast literature on how law professors can improve their teaching methods, how law schools can alter their curricula, and how the legal academy as a whole can prioritize skills education.

Much less attention has been paid to the connection between legal scholarship and the practice of law. For many law professors, there is an intuitive link between their teaching and scholarship. Does that link apply to teaching law students to be more practice-oriented, and what precisely does that mean? Should our scholarship examine more regularly the problems that practitioners confront and the contexts in which they arise? This article addresses these pressing questions in the context of legal scholarship as a context and opportunity.

This article presents the reflections of sixteen law professors on linkages between scholarship and the legal profession. From these reflections, several themes are identified that lead to new perspective on legal scholarship in a time of dynamic change in the law school education. This article begins a dialogue on engaged scholarship and concludes with the some proposed directions for critical reflection on the roles of law professors as academics and as molders of the careers of their students.

Keywords: legal scholarship, teaching, legal profession, education, pedagogy

Suggested Citation

Nolon, John R. and Bryan, Michelle and Burger, Michael and Connolly, Kim Diana and Davidson, Nestor M. and Festa, Matthew J. and Gross, Jill and Heinzerling, Lisa and Hirokawa, Keith H. and Iglesias, Tim and McGinley, Patrick C. and Nolon, Sean F. and Outka, Uma and Owley, Jessica and Robbins, Kalyani and Rosenbloom, Jonathan D. and Serkin, Christopher, Towards Engaged Scholarship (May 2, 2013). Pace Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2225283 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2225283

John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University ( email )

78 North Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603
United States

Michelle Bryan

University of Montana - Alexander Blewett III School of Law ( email )

32 CAMPUS DR
MISSOULA, MT Montana 59812-0003
United States
4062436753 (Phone)
59812-0003 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.umt.edu/people/michellebryan

Michael Burger

Columbia University - Sabin Center for Climate Change Law ( email )

Jerome Greene Hall
435 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
United States

Kim Diana Connolly

SUNY Buffalo Law School ( email )

528 O'Brian Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
United States

Nestor M. Davidson

Fordham University School of Law ( email )

140 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
United States

Matthew J. Festa

South Texas College of Law ( email )

1303 San Jacinto Street
Houston, TX 77002
United States
713-646-1857 (Phone)

Rice University ( email )

6100 South Main Street
Houston, TX 77005-1892
United States

U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School ( email )

600 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903-1781
United States

Jill Gross

Pace Law School ( email )

78 North Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603
United States

Lisa Heinzerling

Georgetown University Law Center ( email )

600 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
United States

Keith H. Hirokawa (Contact Author)

Albany Law School ( email )

80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
United States

Tim Iglesias

University of San Francisco - School of Law ( email )

2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
United States

Patrick C. McGinley

West Virginia University - College of Law ( email )

101 Law School Drive
Morgantown, WV West Virginia 26506
United States

Sean F. Nolon

Vermont Law School ( email )

68 North Windsor Street
P.O. Box 60
South Royalton, VT 05068
United States

Uma Outka

University of Kansas - School of Law ( email )

Green Hall
1535 W. 15th Street
Lawrence, KS 66045-7577
United States

HOME PAGE: http://law.ku.edu/faculty/uma-outka

Jessica Owley

University of Miami - School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 248087
Coral Gables, FL 33146
United States

Kalyani Robbins

Loyola University Chicago School of Law ( email )

25 E. Pearson
Chicago, IL 60611
United States

Jonathan D. Rosenbloom

Albany Law School ( email )

80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
United States

Christopher Serkin

Vanderbilt Law School ( email )

131 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
United States
615-343-6131 (Phone)

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