David Gergen, panelists discuss plans for new Elon law school

Gergen, who is director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, is chair of the Elon University School of Law Advisory Board. The board includes prominent judges, attorneys and business leaders who are advising the university on establishment and development of the school.

The discussion was titled “A National Model for Engaged Learning in Legal Education.” In addition to Gergen, panelists included Carl C. Monk, executive vice president and executive director of the Association of American Law Schools; Katharine T. Bartlett, Dean and A. Kenneth Pye professor of law at the Duke Law School; and I. Richard Gershon, founding dean and professor of law at the Charleston (S.C.) School of Law.

Also attending the session were Raymond Pierce, dean of the law school at North Carolina Central University, and Willis Whichard, dean of the law school at Campbell University.

Gergen said Elon is “America’s University in North Carolina,” and called it one of the “most innovative universities in the country.” He said Elon is “in a perfect position to be bold, innovative and creative” in creating a law program that engages students and concentrates on leadership training.

Gergen said legal education in the United States does not adequately prepare students to have satisfying careers. He said the second and third year of legal education is often a “wasteland,” and said students are spending too much time in the classroom, removed from the world of law practice.

He said Elon’s law school will be committed to giving all students a rigorous preparation in legal knowledge, and then expand on that base. “The students will become good lawyers and good citizens, becoming leaders in society,” Gergen said.

Bartlett said the Elon law school would help Duke and the other law schools in North Carolina to further the cause of actively engaging law students in their education. She said legal education that focuses on developing leadership skills is often seen as “soft” – lacking in academic rigor.

“Our job is to emphasize leadership and student engagement and then redefine what excellence is in legal education,” Barlett said. “We need to show that leadership education is real … that excellent legal education must include this type of training.”

Monk discussed new efforts to assess the quality of legal education through a survey called the Law School Survey of Student Engagement. He said that study shows that less than a third of law students have a clinical or pro bono experience as part of their education.

Gershon said law schools face a serious challenge engaging students in their education, since the use of computers and distance learning can tend to disconnect them from classmates and the learning process.

Leary Davis, at right, founding dean of the Elon law school, said about half the first-year faculty have committed to join the school, and applications for admission are arriving daily. He expects about 1,000 applications for the 100 seats in the inaugural class.

Davis said the law school facility in downtown Greensboro will be ready for occupancy in mid-May. Also moving into the building will be the North Carolina Business Court, which will use the school’s courtroom and other facilities.

Elon’s innovative law program will incorporate practicing attorneys working with students as coaches, a leadership component modeled after programs of the Center for Creative Leadership, and international study opportunities. Davis said students will receive constant, constructive feedback, and he said Elon will be the first law school in the nation to adopt a graduate school grading system in which a “C” does not constitute a passing grade.

Davis invited the many lawyers attending the session to get involved with the law school and work with students. “You are their heroes,” Davis said. “You’re in the trenches. Be part of our network and tell students about your lives – help them understand what successful lawyers do.”