Change Leadership and the Law School Curriculum
Santa Clara Law Review, Vol. 62, No. 1, 43 (2022)
University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 432
21 Pages Posted: 24 May 2022 Last revised: 16 Jun 2022
Date Written: January 8, 2022
Abstract
Lawyers, as inherent and frequent leaders in professional, community, and personal environments, have a greater-than-average need for proficiency in change leadership. In these many settings, lawyers are charged with promoting, making, and addressing change. For example, one commentator observes that, “as stewards of the family justice system and leaders of change, family law attorneys have an ongoing responsibility to foster continuous system improvement.” Change is part of the fabric of lawyering, writ large. Change leadership, whether voluntarily assumed or involuntarily shouldered, is inherent in the lawyering task. Yet, change leadership—well known as a focus for attention in management settings and related academic literature—is rarely called out for individual or focused attention in the traditional law school curriculum. This article presents a brief argument for the intentional and instrumental teaching of change leadership to law students.
Keywords: leadership, change, lawyers, legal education, law
JEL Classification: I21, I29, K00, K40, K49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation