The North Carolina Bar Association's flagship publication featured the vice dean of Elon Law in a story where he reflected on his 20-year career at the university and his role in building law programs in Greensboro and Charlotte.
The vice dean of Elon University School of Law was featured in the North Carolina Bar Association’s “North Carolina Lawyer Magazine” where he retraced his professional journey and discussed the past, present, and future of Elon Law.
Vice Dean Alan Woodlief, the second person hired by the university in 2005 to help launch a law school in downtown Greensboro, spoke at length about his work and his contributions to creating “a law school with a difference.”
“Going from nothing to something, springing into existence, is a unique and rewarding experience,” Woodlief told the NCBA. “You don’t often get to help start something from the beginning and then watch it grow and prosper. Now it is hard to believe: I’m going to have my 20-year anniversary with Elon this spring, and that means the law school is approaching its 20th year as well.”
- Read the full story: Elon’s Alan Woodlief Breaking New Ground Again, This Time In Charlotte
Woodlief joined Elon Law in May 2005 to prepare facilities and curriculum for the arrival of the law school’s charter class the following year. He has chaired or served on numerous law school and university committees, including strategic planning and American Bar Association accreditation committees.
Woodlief established Elon Law’s Moot Court Program in 2008, coaching numerous award-winning teams and guiding the Moot Court Board in hosting the annual Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition, one of the nation’s largest competitions. In 2015, he founded the Guardian Ad Litem Appellate Advocacy Clinic, through which Elon Law students represent the interests of abused and neglected children in the North Carolina appellate courts.
About Elon University School of Law
Elon Law is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required, full-time residency-in-practice field placement for all full-time students during the winter or spring of their second year. The law school’s distinctive curriculum offers a logically sequenced program of professional preparation and is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides exceptional value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their careers.
Elon Law has graduated more than 1,600 alumni since opening its doors in 2006. Its annual enrollment now tops 470 full- and part-time students and the law school is regularly featured in PreLaw Magazine’s “Best Schools for Practical Training” rankings, reaching #4 in the nation in 2024. The Elon Law Flex Program, a part-time, in-person program of legal study for working professionals began in Fall 2024 at Elon University’s Charlotte campus.