“We have really talented faculty. They have great bios, they’re great scholars, and they are dedicated to student success. They’re really there to assist them in the challenges of studying law.” —Jean Holloway, Dean of Hamline Law school
This is one of the largest issues that Holloway would like to address. “As far as the declining enrollment, we need to adapt ourselves to the needs of the marketplace. The cause of the decline is multifaceted, and in part it’s the economy,” Holloway said. “There is more pressure on lawyers to deliver the same services for lower incomes, and the downward pressure in the market comes from a change in the needs of clients. What do law firms and clients need? Every business in the world has been impacted by changes in technology—the sheer amount of information that’s out there. Pieces of the law have become more commodified; today people don’t always need a JD to provide the same services that lawyers used to provide. We’re going through a period of readjustment now. There’s been a lot of media hysteria. They have exacerbated the problem and made people afraid of law school more than they should be.” Holloway is more than qualified to deal with this problem. She possesses two Bachelor’s degrees from Yale, as well as a joint MBA and JD from the University of Chicago. Besides working in private practice, she has acted as general
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counsel for firms such as CR Bard, Inc., Medtronic and Boston Scientific. She is proud of her past presidency of the Hennepin County Bar Association and Minnesota Women Lawyers, and her involvement with the Children’s Defense Fund of Minnesota. But it’s not all work and no play for Holloway. Outside of her career achievements, she manages to live life to the fullest through family, music and travel. “I have been married for almost 34 years,” Holloway said. “My husband is a physician from Istanbul, Turkey, and we have three children.” Her oldest son is a composer who currently lives in London, and both of her younger children are studying medicine at the University of Minnesota. She described some of the ways she and her family spend their time together. “Music is a big hobby in our family; we love listening to music and going to concerts,” Holloway said. “We all play—I play a little bit, but I’m not very good. I love to travel—we travel a lot to my husband’s home country. My children are bilingual—not in Turkish, but they went to French school.” Holloway said that in addition to her other hobbies, it is important to her to volunteer her time by representing children in court. “I’ve spent 100 to 200 hours a year doing pro bono work for children, developing legal aid and child advocacy,” Holloway said. Holloway is thrilled to now be entering the position of dean of the law school. She felt that Hamline offered a unique atmosphere. “We have the breadth of the university here—some schools don’t. The university setting gives us a lot of cross-fertilization. We work closely with other parts of the university, with the law school interacting with the business school and interacting with the school of education, and that helps us and helps our students.” Expanding on that idea, Holloway believes that Hamline’s integration stems from the essential student and faculty interaction in the classroom.
“There was a real sense of community here—both at Hamline University and at the law school,” Holloway said. “It’s really dedicated to providing a high degree of contact between students and faculty. We have really talented faculty. They have great bios, they’re great scholars, and they are dedicated to student success. They’re really there to assist them in the challenges of studying law. Nobody’s saying that it’s easy.” In fact, due to Holloway’s awareness of the rigors of law school, she cautioned potential applicants to consider the decision very carefully.“It’s not cheap going to law school, and it’s an investment in time,” she said. “You should do your homework before you make your decision. You should shadow judges, go meet in-house lawyers and ask them, ‘What do you like about it?’” Holloway looks forward to being fully established in her role as dean, though she feels she needs time to familiarize herself with the community and the atmosphere before jumping in to address the big issues. “It’s a little bit early for me to be making recommendations for changes,” Holloway said. “I’m still getting to know the institution better. One goal is just to build on the work of what the prior dean was doing. I think fundraising is important, and making sure that we’re getting our message out.” Holloway expressed appreciation and admiration for the work of former School of Law Dean Ronald Lewis, who had been in that position since 2008 and has now returned to private practice. “I’ve known Don for years, and I think he did a wonderful thing here,” Holloway said. “He was respected by not only the university and staff, but by the Twin Cities community.” Holloway is ready to meet the future with energy and enthusiasm, and she is excited for the opportunity to work more closely with the students. It is the first chance in her career to work largely with young people, and she looks forward to the experience. “I’m delighted to be here,” she said. “It’s a good adventure.”