2011-2012 Report on Engaged Learning and Innovation in Legal Education

2011-12 REPORT ON

ENGAGED LEARNING AND INNOVATION IN LEGAL EDUCATION ANNOUNCING: Washington, D.C. externship program Elder Law Clinic Center for Professional Development Pro Bono Board National recognition for preceptor program Moot court & mock trial news Expansion of legal research & writing faculty

Dear Friend, I am pleased to share with you this report about experiential learning opportunities for students at Elon University School of Law. Innovation and an emphasis on engaged learning are at the core of Elon Law. Our founders recognized that, in addition to offering a foundation of doctrinal law courses, students needed to acquire greater practical experience, be advised and mentored by lawyers, and develop lawyering skills and professional values essential to success in our modern legal environment.

The initiatives here represent Elon Law’s sustained commitment to a program of legal education that values engaged learning. They build upon the school’s array of professional mentoring and practicebased educational programs. These investments and the real-world experiences they provide students will lead to lawyers better prepared for practice and equipped to make significant contributions in service to clients, the profession, and society throughout their careers.

Sincerely, George R. Johnson, Jr. Dean and Professor of Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM “The program will provide a unique experiential educational opportunity for law students who are interested in law practice in government, federal agencies and non-governmental organizations.”

Margaret Kantlehner associate professor of law and director of externships

Elon Law and The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars announced in the spring of 2012 an initiative to provide law students with legal externship opportunities in Washington, D.C. Through the program, Elon Law students have been placed in offices of the U.S. Sentate, the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Whistelblowers Center and Advocates for Justice, a public interest law firm.

Elon Law’s broader externship program offers law students numerous placement opportunities in dozens of nonprofit organizations and state executive, legislative and judicial branch offices in North Carolina and in other states and countries. > law.elon.edu/externships

PRO BONO BOARD Established in the fall of 2011, the student-led Pro Bono Board has increased awareness among the student body about pro bono opportunities throughout the state and has helped to create additional service projects for students.

In the 2011-12 academic year, Elon Law students performed 16,813 hours of legal service. The Class of 2012 contributed more than 25,000 hours of community and pro bono service during three years of law study. Students serve through pro bono opportunities, such as the Tax Assistance Program, Wills for Heroes and Innocence Project. They also serve through the Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, Wills Clinic, Elder Law Clinic and other curricular offerings such as Street Law and Public Law & Leadership courses. > law.elon.edu/probono

ELDER LAW CLINIC Elon Law students, under the supervision of faculty, began providing free legal services during the fall 2012 semester through the school’s new Elder Law Clinic.

The clinic serves low-income residents of Guilford County, ages 60 and above, focusing on the civil legal issues of older adults, such as contract and consumer issues, guardianships, health care, housing, unemployment compensation, wills, Social Security and veterans benefits.

The clinic joins several Elon Law programs that provide law students with direct client experience including the Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, serving refugees and asylum seekers, and the Wills Clinic, serving clients referred by Habitat for Humanity and other referral sources.

“The Elder Law Clinic provides excellent educational opportunities for Elon Law students because it exposes them to a broad range of law and client circumstances.”

Hannah Vaughan clinical practioner-in-residence

> law.elon.edu/clinics

CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Elon Law’s Center for Professional Development, formerly the Office of Career Services, opened in August 2012 in a newly renovated 5,700-square-foot facility at 101 W. Friendly Ave. in downtown Greensboro, adjacent to the law school’s H. Michael Weaver Building.

The Center provides a resource-rich environment for students to explore career opportunities, engage the office’s employer-relations program and build networking and professional development plans.

The Center focuses on strengthening Elon’s employer-relations program, equipping students with professional skills necessary for success in job search and career advancement processes and connecting students to professional networking and placement opportunities. > Contact the Center for Professional Development: (336) 279-9358 | law.elon.edu/cpd

MOOT COURT & MOCK TRIAL NEWS “Through moot court and mock trial experiences, our students hone the skills they learned in their legal methods and advocacy courses and gain confidence in their ability to put those skills into practice as effective advocates for clients.“ Alan Woodlief associate dean for administration, associate professor of law and director of moot court programs

The students of the Moot Court Board at Elon Law realized continuing success during the 2011-12 academic year, achieving multiple semifinal, quarterfinal and best brief awards at national competitions. The board also hosted the second annual Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition, welcoming 33 teams from 17 law schools.

Student teams from Elon Law’s new mock trial program competed for the first time in national competitions during the 2011-12 academic year. These programs enrich Elon Law’s trial and appellate advocacy program, which offers Elon Law students a wide array of pre-trial, trial and appellate advocacy courses and cocurricular experiences.

LEGAL METHOD & COMMUNICATION FACULTY EXPANDS Elon Law is committed to providing students with rigorous, innovative instruction in legal research, writing and oral communication. Demonstrating that commitment, the law school added a sixth fulltime faculty member to its Legal Method & Communication faculty in 2012. Keith McCrickard, formerly a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and a judicial clerk to three judges of the U.S. Courts, joins a program faculty led by Catherine Wasson, a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Legal Writing Directors and co-author of A Practical Guide to Legal Writing & Legal Method. Other program faculty include Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence John Flynn and Assistant Professors Tom Noble, Robert Parrish and Patricia Perkins.

ELON LAW RANKED AMONG NATION’S MOST INNOVATIVE LAW SCHOOLS The National Jurist ranked Elon University School of Law this summer as one of America’s 20 most innovative law schools.

Elon Law’s preceptor program was the basis for the school’s selection as an honoree. The program also was spotlighted in the fall edition cover story of preLaw magazine, a sister publication of The National Jurist and a leading news source in legal education.

“Elon’s Preceptor Program is one of the only programs in the country in which students are paired with practicing attorneys in their first year,” the preLaw story notes.

The preceptor program provides students with a mentoring relationship with practicing attorneys in the community. Students receive personal guidance about career planning, networking and the profession from the moment they enter law school. Preceptors advise students on their in-class performance at Elon, and they invite students to accompany them to observe trials, initial client interviews, depositions and mediations, among other things. > law.elon.edu/preceptors

“We were surprised and impressed by the level of innovation today. Legal educators are no longer just talking about change—they are taking the first steps to make it happen. “ Jack Crittenden editor-in-chief of The National Jurist

INTERNATIONAL LAW & BUSINESS COURSE Faculty members at Elon Law not only develop innovative teaching methods to enrich courses throughout the school’s rigorous core curriculum, they also create courses that allow students to apply legal knowledge in the context of client needs and circumstances.

“Elon’s International Business course brings together law students and business students to assess the problems of companies operating in some of the world’s most rapidly expanding markets (Singapore, China, Vietnam). Students travel abroad and meet with the companies’ principals to develop legal and business strategies for addressing real-world challenges.“

Elon Law and MBA students met with top business and legal leaders in Beijing and Hong Kong through an international business course in 2012. Students analyzed U.S.-based businesses operating in China before the trip and then visited those businesses to explore their operations and to speak with executives first-hand about the challenges and opportunities of doing business in China.

During a 10-day trip, students visited several international businesses (IBM, RF Micro Devices, Cree, VF Corporation, SAS) and law firms (Covington & Burling, Fulbright & Jaworski, Jun He Law Firm). Students also visited the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, heard from Hong Kong’s former representative to the World Trade Organization and toured port facilities in Hong Kong.

Andy Haile associate professor

This was the third consecutive year the course has been offered. Other countries visited as part of the course have included Vietnam and Singapore. In the course, law students serve as legal advisors to mock commercial entities created by business students, researching intellectual property, labor and trade laws specific to each country and advising on legal considerations related to the establishment of business operations in foreign countries.

PUBLIC LAW & LEADERSHIP COURSE For a fifth consecutive year, all second year law students served actual clients, under the supervision of faculty, through the school’s Public Law and Leadership course. In the course, developed by Elon Law Professor Faith Rivers James, students form into teams to assist nonprofit organizations and government agencies in resolving real legal issues. Each Public Law and Leadership team operates as a model law firm, conducting interviews, doing legal research and developing memoranda and presentations to recommend courses of action for clients. > law.elon.edu/leadership

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H. Michael Weaver Building - Elon Law’s primary facility

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Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic and Wills Clinic

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Elder Law Clinic

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Student offices for law review, moot court, mock trial, Student Bar Association and other student organizations

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Center for Professional Development, new classroom and student commons

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Planned for future use

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Newly developed outdoor green space

INVESTING IN AN ENGAGED LEARNING APPROACH TO LEGAL EDUCATION In the past three years, Elon has acquired and renovated several facilities adjacent to the law school’s main H. Michael Weaver Building in downtown Greensboro, the judicial hub of central North Carolina.

The map above illustrates how each facility is being used to broaden experiential learning opportunities for law students.

Organizations served through Elon Law’s Public Law & Leadership Course: Action Greensboro • After Gateway, Inc. • Bicycling Greensboro • Center for Youth, Family and Community Partnerships • City of Greensboro Department of Housing and Community Development • City of Greensboro University Roundtable • East Market Street Development Corporation • Elsewhere Collaborative Living

Museum • Glenwood Family Ministries • Greensboro Housing Coalition • Greensboro Neighborhood Congress • Housing Greensboro, Inc. • Legal Aid of North Carolina • North Carolina Business Court • Piedmont Conservation Council, Inc. • Reading Connections • Self-Help Corporation • Volunteer Center of Greensboro

“It does seem to me to be a very appropriate time to step back and talk about the life of the law and how lawyers can make a positive difference. That is at the heart and soul of what Elon University President Leo Lambert and Law School Dean George Johnson are trying to do at Elon, to determine what law schools can do to help mold and shape the leaders of tomorrow. People at Elon are concerned about not only how lawyers can make a living, but also how they can make a life.” —David Gergen

NATIONAL CONFERENCE EXAMINES THE ROLE OF LAWYERS AS LEADERS “I am glad to be back at Elon, since I helped you get started here at the law school. I am impressed with the law school, what it is achieving and its focus on leadership.”

The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor

Co-hosted by Elon Law and the Center for Creative Leadership, the April 2012 Conference on Law and Leadership brought together business leaders and legal educators to explore innovations in the preparation of law students and new attorneys for the business and ethical dimensions of law practice and for the leadership responsibilities of the profession. The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (ret.), and David Gergen, chair of the Elon University Law School Advisory Board, professor and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and former adviser to four U.S. presidents, delivered keynote addresses at the conference.

INSIGHTS FROM THE 2012 CONFERENCE ON LAW & LEADERSHIP “In the old model, firms would put someone in charge of a practice group or an office and ask them to be a leader, only to be very frustrated six months or a year later when they haven’t done the job you thought they should do; but you had given them no tools, no training, no idea with respect to leadership. We decided to change that model and start a process of teaching people how to be leaders.”

Keith W. Vaughan, chairman, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP, whose firm recently created the position of chief leadership and executive development officer.

“The study and practice of leadership in legal contexts prepares students for professional practice, primes them to exercise leadership within their communities and positions law graduates to engage in leadership of the profession and the public square.”

Faith Rivers James, professor of law and director of leadership programs, Elon University School of Law

“Clients, corporations and all organizations are coming to expect their lawyers to be analytical advocates and problem solvers, team members, great communicators, creative thinkers and leaders.”

Robert Cullen, vice president and general counsel, JSI Logistics

“The law is nothing if not a liberal arts education in how to solve problems and to find a path to social justice.”

Martin Eakes, chief executive officer, Self-Help/Center for Responsible Lending

Additional speakers at the conference included: Louis Bilionis, dean and Nippert professor of law University of Cincinnati College of Law

Dennis Glass, president and CEO Lincoln Financial Group

Raymond Burse, vice president and general counsel GE Consumer & Industrial

Marina Hsieh, senior fellow Santa Clara University School of Law

Candace S. Cummings, vice president administration, general counsel and secretary VF Corporation

George R. Johnson, Jr. , dean and professor of law Elon University School of Law

Judith Welch Wegner, Burton Craig professor of law University of North Carolina School of Law

Thomas W. Ross, president The University of North Carolina system

Edward C. Winslow III, managing partner Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP

Mona Edwards, vice president and chief of staff Center for Creative Leadership

Roland Smith, senior faculty member Center for Creative Leadership Skeens-Watson visiting professor of leadership Elon University School of Law

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