Academic Excellence Program

Emory Law’s Academic Excellence program provides multi-pronged support to ensure student success both in terms of academic performance and more specifically in preparation for the bar exam. Our dedicated team of faculty and academic advising professionals oversee Bar Readiness, Elements of Legal Studies Program, the Dean’s Teaching Fellows, and more. Please see below to learn more about each of our focus areas:

Bar Readiness

Our faculty instruct multiple courses designed to help 2Ls and 3Ls prepare for the Universal Bar Exam including the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), and Multi-state Essay (MEE), the NextGen Bar, and the Georgia Essay sections of the various bar exams offered across the country. Courses include: LAW985: Survey of Integrated Legal Skills, LAW995: Survey of Integrated Legal Concepts and LAW999: Georgia Law, Practice, and Procedures. These courses strategically cover frequently occurring bar topics along with test taking practice and methodologies to enhance student success. We also provide associated workshops including our summer Bar InSight program for Emory Law alumni to provide additional support for bar preparation. 

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Academic Advising

With the support of our associate dean and director, our experienced team of academic advisors serve our JD and LLM students as the primary touchpoints of academic advising and planning during their law school career. As such, our advisors are strategic partners to faculty, administrators, and student organizations promoting student development and retention via advising, targeted intervention, and cross-departmental collaboration. Additional duties also include graduation audits, guiding students to campus resources such as bar readiness, counseling, accessibility, and career services. Likewise, they are involved in orientation and assessment including participation in the design of relevant workshops and initiatives. Upon the request of the Dean of Academic Programs, they also serve as Conduct Court Investigators. Finally, our advising team oversees the selection, training, supervision, and ongoing mentorship of the Dean’s Teaching Fellows.

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Elements of Legal Studies (ELS)

Our ELS Program is designed to help our newly admitted students to transition to Emory Law. We provide programming starting the summer prior to orientation and continuing throughout the academic year including workshops that focus on critical reading and analytical skills essential for student success. Associated coursework includes LAW994A: Elements of Legal Study I and LAW994B: Elements of Legal Study II.

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Academic Excellence Team

Kamina Pinder

Kamina Pinder is the associate dean of Academic Excellence and a professor of practice. She teaches LAW995: Survey of Integrated Legal Concepts, LAW520: Contracts, LAW741: Remedies, LAW 535A: Introduction to Legal Analysis, LAW535B: Introduction to Legal Advocacy, LAW747: Legal Profession, and LAW747E: Law and Legal Professionals. She has taught in several law and business schools in the areas of legal writing, contracts, professional ethics, ethical issues in healthcare, remedies, case settlement negotiation, bar prep, and externships. She has also published multiple works including a student-centric guide on legal writing and a study aid to improve performance on contracts. Dean Pinder is also a bar review lecturer in the subject of professional responsibility. We welcome you to view her profile for more information about her extensive scholarship, professional background, and notes of distinction.

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Franklin B. Lebo

Franklin B. Lebo is the director of Academic Excellence and an assistant teaching professor. Among the courses he instructs, Lebo is responsible for LAW985: Survey of Integrated Legal Skills and LAW999: Georgia Law, Practice/Procedure. He previously served multiple experiential learning programs at Emory Law including the Externship and Professionalism Programs along with the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program and Barton Child Law and Policy Center. Before joining Emory University, from 2017-2022, he served as co-director and assistant teaching professor of Baldwin Wallace University's Sustainability Program. Lebo is a recurring CLE lecturer for TRTCLE, Inc. delivering addresses to national audiences of attorneys on topics such as executive powers, judicial discretion, benefit corporations, public-private partnerships (3P), environmental social governance (ESG), professional responsibility, and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We welcome you to view his profile for more information about his scholarship, professional background, and notes of distinction.

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