Dean Mary Anne Bobinski is the voice of the next era for Emory Law.

History maker

I was happy researching and teaching, but those activities lack one really important thing: problem-solving for the entire law school community.


Photography by Annalise Kaylor

The Emory University School of Law has been waiting a long time for Dean Mary Anne Bobinski.

After Professor Robert Schapiro’s influential tenure ended in 2017, the law school benefited from the service of two interim deans, with widely respected professor James B. Hughes Jr. serving in the role for nearly two years. In September 2018, Emory University’s Provost, Dr. Dwight A. McBride, announced the launch of the search process to identify Emory Law’s new leader. The search was led by search committee chair Dr. Erika James, dean and John H. Harland professor at the Goizueta Business School. The search committee also included faculty members, staff, alumni, and university trustees. After a wide-ranging search that generated outstanding candidates from across the United States and abroad, the university announced Mary Anne Bobinski’s selection as Emory Law’s new dean— and the first woman dean in the school’s more than century of existence— in June 2018. So, yes, Emory Law has been waiting a long time for this new dean.

“It is a huge honor to be the first woman dean,” Bobinski says, adding that she is proud to join a university “where there are amazing women leaders” throughout, including President Claire E. Sterk.

What has impressed Dean Bobinski about Emory Law’s first one hundred years? “The Emory Law community is characterized by its strong commitment to students and by the creativity and energy that faculty members have applied to some of the most important challenges facing our society, in areas ranging from corporate law to voting rights.” When asked about her own leadership style, Bobinski notes the importance of ensuring that “values and commitment to excellence remain at the core of Emory Law’s identity.” She also emphasizes fostering a culture of openness and inclusivity within the law school and the opportunities to connect the school even more closely to the strengths of the university, to its alumni, and to the profession as a whole. Bobinski’s reputation for promoting inclusiveness and building connections between law schools and their many stakeholders is one of the standout qualities that attracted the search committee’s attention.

Dean Bobinski arrived in Atlanta in mid-July with her family, settling into the Morningside neighborhood. “We’re close to parks - which is good for the dog - and we’re close to the university and my daughter’s school,” she explains. Transitioning from a temperate Canadian summer back to the steamy South will take time, but Bobinski is excited to become a part of Atlanta’s diverse and thriving environment. “Atlanta is the birthplace of civil rights and has seen a long struggle for equal rights, and that is very inspiring to me and, I think, to many other people,” Bobinski says. “Both Emory University and the law school have been involved with advancing human rights and driving economic opportunity within Atlanta and around the globe.”

The new dean comes to Atlanta by way of the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, where the law program is now ranked as one of the top 20 in the world, according to the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings table. Bobinski served as dean of the law school for 12 years, playing a pivotal role in the enhancement of its faculty, academic programs, facilities, and global recognition. Prior to her leadership role at Allard, Bobinski was the senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Houston Law Center in Texas. In Houston, she also served as a John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Law and directed a health law program that was then the top-ranked program of its kind in the United States.

Dean Bobinski's interests in comparative health law, health care finance, and bioethics have led her to many notable posts. She has served as president and board member of the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics and was a mem- ber of the Canadian Public Health Officer’s Ethics Advisory Committee. Additionally, she has been a visiting scholar at several exemplary institutions, including the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, the University of Sydney Law School, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Melbourne Law School, and the Faculty of Law at Oxford University. Her LLM is from Harvard Law School, and she holds a JD and a BA in psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, both received summa cum laude. However, Bobinski’s modest manner belies her long list of accomplishments. When she concluded her administrative role at Allard in 2015, she returned to her research and to the classroom. “Getting back in the classroom and teaching first-year students torts as well as upper-level classes in health law are both great joys,” she says. “Aside from health law, there is nothing better than teaching torts. It is practical in one sense, because everyone knows someone who has had an accident. But it is also a topic that is quite theoretical. You can learn a lot about law and key objectives from the theory of tort law.”

Her time spent teaching and returning to her most recent research in comparative health law was well spent. She had an opportunity to explore public health law and the changing nature of the physician-patient relationship, topics that have engaged her for many years. “I am interested in how different societies approach governmental responsibility and authority to protect public health, particularly where the measures pursued by government might affect or intrude upon the interests and rights of individuals,” she says. Her scholarly work explores this through the lens of HIV, in areas ranging from how antiretroviral treatments are made available to the controversies surrounding how those living with HIV have sometimes been prosecuted for behaviors deemed to create a risk of exposure to others. Bobinski’s most recent article explores the role of law in establishing the balance of power in the physician-patient relationship, with a particular focus on addressing conflicts of interest. “This is an important issue because there are many areas where physicians may have conflicts of interest with their patients created, for example, by different types of financial incentives or personal values and beliefs,” she explains. “In the United States, the legal approach to conflicts often focuses on whether the treatment relationship is considered to be a fiduciary relationship in which physicians are deemed to have duties of loyalty that require them to serve their patients’ interests first.” The dean’s article considers whether there are alternatives to using the fiduciary framework to address these conflicts. Considering Emory's strategic goal to "be recognized as a top-ranked global leader in health science research to drive societal impact," Bobinski's appointment could usher in an era of greater collaboration between the law school and the university at large. Despite her commitment to this research, she was ready for another leadership position.

“The reality is, I was happy researching and teaching, but those activities lack one really important thing: problem-solving for the entire law school community. I am energized by identifying and moving toward opportunities that make the place where I am better for students and faculty, and that connect [the school] to the outside world,” she says. Bobinski invested more than a decade as dean at Allard, where she focused on recruiting outstanding faculty members, expanding academic programs, increasing student involvement, and substantial fundraising efforts that included both the largest gift to legal education in Canadian history to support the law school’s endowment and a fundraising campaign to finance the construction of a new law building. Allard Hall was the first new building constructed for a Canadian law school in 30 years. When her term as dean came to a close, Bobinski had much to be proud of. “Term limits are a great concept,” she says. “They help ensure that you have continually fresh energy and new perspectives in administrative roles.”

For someone like Bobinski, who is hardwired for the challenges of strategic planning, fundraising, and engaging with students and faculty, getting back into an administrative role was likely. Bobinski took a measured approach to recruitment efforts. “I think it was the Emory position that drove my interest in returning to [academic leadership],” she says. “It is energizing to be connecting with the Emory community and such a privilege to become part of it. I appreciated the time that people put into the dean search process. That really whet my appetite for continuing conversations with Emory.” What was it about Emory Law that convinced Dean Bobinski it was the right next step for her career? She saw progressive leadership. Talented faculty. Students embedding themselves in and serving the Atlanta community. What’s more, she saw a truly ambitious academic curriculum.

“Particularly in the last decade, Emory Law has been extremely entrepreneurial in developing new types of programs and renewing focus in areas such as transactional law,” she says. Bobinski calls Emory a leader in the effort to think critically and creatively about what comes next for legal education. “There is a recognition among Emory’s leaders that we can take stock of the law school’s programs, assess their success, and continue to build them. Or, we can see if there are untapped opportunities.” Bobinski says that the law school is in a pivotal position, and she predicts more change and growth ahead. In order to change and grow, an incoming leader must be clear-eyed about the issues she is tasked with solving. Emory Law, like every law school, is grappling with the challenges of a legal education in the 21st cen- tury. Bobinski understands that it will be her job to address those challenges. “Our 21st century problems are profound,” she says. “Legal education is in a significant crisis and has been since the downturn in the economy in 2009. It has been a decade of challenges related to the crisis, that have changed the structure of the profession.” Bobinski points out the “disconnect” between fewer entry-level positions for graduating law students and the shortfall in availability of legal aid. “Millions go without access to legal services, while there are graduates who need the jobs that could provide those services.” Bobinski says that disconnect goes even deeper because many legal employers are reluctant to hire candidates without proven legal competence and skills. But if not by interacting with clients or presenting in the courtroom, how do young lawyers establish competence and skills?

Bobinski has a few ideas about how to address this disconnect and ways to bring law schools into the 21st century. Emory Law has already established itself as a national leader in executing one of them: experiential learning programs. “There is a traditional model of legal education that imagines a wise person in front of the classroom engaged in Socratic dialogue with students. This is still a very important part of legal education. It is great for teaching students how to think analytically, like lawyers,” Bobinski says, and there is no doubt that many of Emory’s law faculty members are widely revered for their classroom prowess. This will no doubt be a key feature of the Emory Law experience moving forward. But, as Bobinski notes, “experiential learning is important, too.” Emory Law’s opportunities for experiential and practical learning experiences include clinics, externships, the TI:GER program, trial techniques, transactional law, moot court, and pro bono volunteer opportunities. The philosophy is that students find the right legal paths for their interests and natural talents by learning the skills needed to apply classroom knowledge to actual legal scenarios. Firsthand experience with the legal profession is an important part of guiding students’ career paths and helping them make practical decisions about what type of practice will best suit them when they leave the law school.

Student loan debt is another 21st century issue — and Dean Bobinski does not call it a “crisis” hyperbolically. “We are trying to manage people’s investment in their education so that it doesn’t hamper them from having a full range of career choices when they finish their programs,” she says. Bobinski wants students to find “careers they’re excited about and that will meet society’s needs.” She thinks that Emory Law has a responsibility to recognize the importance of this issue among its students. “Emory is in an interesting position for several reasons,” she says. “Because it has been a national leader in legal education, it has a special responsibility when it comes to making sure that it prepares students for leadership roles as they practice in Atlanta, Georgia, the southeast, . . . nationally and, potentially, globally.” Bobinski points to roles that past Emory Law students have assumed within leading national law firms in major centers of legal practice, as well as in corporate settings, the federal government, public service, nonprofits, and as public defenders. “Emory Law graduates have opportunities in all different settings,” she says confidently. This is in large part because of the law school’s national and global reach, its rigorous curriculum, and the new experiential learning opportunities that prepare students to start jobs with sufficient competence and skills. Where Bobinski intends to make an impact with Emory Law’s curriculum is continuing to graduate law students who are prepared to begin their work with the confidence that they have had the opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and situational understanding that they need in their chosen fields of practice. “An important part of this next stage is to have conversations with graduates, professionals, and leaders to see what they think are the curriculum needs as we move forward,” she says. “I want to give the message to leaders that this will be coming. We will actually be engaging with the profession. We will be moving into a strategic planning cycle.”

In addition to addressing the 21st century challenges of a legal education, Bobinski is also expected to help Emory Law generate the level of financial support needed to maintain its leadership position in legal education. “Fundraising is a key aspect of a dean’s role these days. It is a fact of how higher education works,” she says. The law school is aware that it operates at a disadvantage, given the size of its endowment and annual gifts in comparison to its peer institutions. Funding is necessary for the students, faculty, and school to impact the broader community, Bobinski explains. There is no way around it: “You need the funds. That’s the fuel that helps good works happen.”

Given her successful fundraising history at Allard, one might assume Bobinski has been honing this talent for years. She insists otherwise. “Fundraising was something I hadn’t had much exposure to before taking up the dean role in British Columbia,” she says. Fundraising, she continues, is “one of the most enjoyable parts of the job.” It helps that she views fundraising as a relationship-building opportunity rather than a financial venture. (Recall that her decision to take on another leadership role was connected with missing the problem-solving aspect of the job.) Bobinski describes fundraising as a complex, deeply personal, and rewarding task. “You . . . connect with and become immersed in the hopes, dreams, and visions of the people you’re working with on a daily basis. You know what they hope to achieve for the school, and then you have conversations with people in the community—with alumni legal professionals, and business leaders.” What comes next, she describes, is learning what the community wants to see from the law school and creating a “shared vision.”

While that might sound overly earnest or like a sound bite coming from a spokesperson, Bobinski is sincere when she explains what she means by “shared vision.” “It is a two-way communication about aspirations and expectations that ends up - in many cases - generating interests and investments that make a real difference,” she says. The funds allow students to pursue a legal education. They promote pathbreaking and impactful faculty research, and, they connect law schools with their communities, she says.

In her past fundraising experience, Bobinski says, “I saw inspiring relationships that made a real difference for the school and the community. Fundraising generated money for new clinical programs, a new building project, and - critically - establishing endowments that ensured the capacity to do good in perpetuity.” As Bobinski discusses fundraising, Emory Law’s curriculum, her move to Atlanta, and stepping into the dean role, she struggles to find a word besides “exciting.” She is excited. The job is exciting. Her new colleagues excite her. “Please help me find another word!” she laughs. Of course, but it bears mentioning: Dean Bobinski is genuine in her excitement. She will be getting to work right away. Hers is a kind, energetic focus, and the Emory Law community will soon see it. “Over the next few months, one of the most important things I’ll be doing is reaching out to connect with as many Emory Law graduates as possible,” Dean Bobinski says, “as well as friends of the school and those who have been impacted by the school’s programs and activities.” She laughs again as she summarizes her intent. “Basically, I’m looking forward to ensuring that we have the very best advice as we move the law school forward.” Nothing about her new beginning is lost on Emory Law’s incoming dean. She is stepping into a role ripe for fresh leadership. She is making history as the school’s first woman dean. And, though she is arriving in the thick of the 21st century legal education crisis, she is unflinchingly calm about the challenges ahead. “This is such an important moment for the law school,” she says. Noting the law school’s recent celebration of its first 100 years, she said, “This is the next phase of Emory Law’s picking up the mantle of responsibility for leadership in legal education and setting its sights for the future.”

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