Leadership in a Changing World
The Emory Law Strategic Plan ("the Plan") was formally adopted by a unanimous vote of the faculty in December 2020.
As the law school reaches the halfway mark in the five-year plan and prepares to launch a search for a new dean, there is an opportunity to celebrate progress in carrying out the initiatives identified in the Plan. The following article provides updates about selected provisions of the Plan. Read the full document at
law.emory .edu/strategicplan.
Goal 1: Revise our curriculum and course of study to meet the challenges of rapid changes in law and the legal profession to prepare our students for productive and rewarding careers.
Initiatives
Create curricular pathways for students that integrate theory and practice and include capstone experiences
The law school has built on its innovative transactional law and TI:GER certificate programs by creating four new curricular concentrations in the JD program-health law, civil litigation and dispute resolution, criminal litigation, and law and religion. Each concentration offers students a curricular pathway for building a foundation in an area of practice and each includes a capstone experience that allows students to integrate their learning from the foundational courses, thereby creating a bridge to practice.
Expand the use of simulation approaches, programs, and offerings
Emory Law is well-known for providing students with opportunities to integrate learning and to develop legal skills in simulated practice settings. The mandatory trial techniques program and the transactional program's "Doing Deals" courses are examples of this approach. The law school has introduced several courses in which students are able to practice legal skills over the past few years, including ALW Blogging & Social Media and Writing for judicial Chambers. The law school added almost 200 "seats" or spots in simulation courses from 2020 to 2022.
The law school also looks beyond the classroom for opportunities to introduce students to practicerelated skills. For example, our human resources department incorporated information about tracking time and billable hours into the on boarding for student employees, providing an early introduction to the billable hours process that graduates may well encounter in practice.
Expand externship placements, modernize transactional/trial advocacy programs, add new credit-bearing clinics
Students also have the benefit of a robust and highly-regarded externship program that provides students with exposure to a wide range of practice settings and substantive areas of law. The law school has increased the number of externship placements available to students by 28% since the adoption of the strategic plan. Students have access to 110 placements in firms, corporations, nonprofits, and government entities and can gain exposure to practice areas ranging from criminal defense to corporate law and sports law.
Emory's flagship transactional law and trial techniques programs are continually reviewing and modifying their curricula. The transactional law program regularly offers new "Doing Deals" capstone courses. In 2022, Sue Payne, who serves as William and Jane Carney Professor of Transactional Law and Practice and Executive Director, Center for Transactional Law and Practice, developed a new Doing Deals: General Counsel course. Mike Ginsberg, who directs Emory Law's Kessler-Eidson Program for Trial Techniques, ensured the delivery of the program throughout the pandemic and has led efforts to introduce new components, such as a new jury selection lecture and demonstration.
Emory Law provides outstanding clinical programs for students through the Barton Child Law and Policy Center, the Turner Environmental Law Clinic, and the International Humanitarian Law Clinic. These programs offer students an intensive learning experience that can include representation of clients under the supervision of clinical faculty members.
As the law school considers adding additional creditbearing clinics in future years, one of the programs often mentioned for consideration is the ten-year old Volunteer Clinic for Veterans. Students currently work in the clinic under the supervision of lawyers, much as they would in a traditional clinic setting, but they do so as volunteers rather than as students enrolled in a class. The volunteer clinic has served hundreds of veterans, obtained millions in benefits, and prepared numerous estate planning documents for veterans and their spouses. The program, which has been sustained by funds from individual bequests and significant gifts from the Arthur Blank Foundation, recently received notice of a $150,000 grant from the US Department of Veteran's Affairs. With a leadership transition underway, the law school will soon be able to consider the next steps for this vital program.
Goal 2: Build and maintain a diverse faculty that will, through its scholarship and teaching, position Emory Law to play a central role in addressing issues of critical importance to legal practice and our society.
Enhance scholarly productivity and impact of tenure stream faculty
This is a time of significant transition as many of Emory Law's senior, esteemed faculty members have retired over the past few years. The Plan recognizes our responsibility to recruit a new generation of law professors who will build upon the law school's longstanding excellence in scholarship and teaching. The Plan also notes the need to ensure that faculty hiring would be forward-looking, to ensure that our faculty are prepared to address emerging issues of critical importance to legal practice and to our society.
The law school has recruited an outstanding cohort of more than a dozen new faculty members over the past few years. As can be seen elsewhere in this issue, the new faculty members are award-winning teachers and productive scholars who strive to lead their fields of inquiry and to shape the development of our laws.
Emory's reputation-which is based in part on the strength of our faculty-continues to be very strong. According to data from US News & World Report, in May 2023 Emory Law was ranked #20 based on its reputation among lawyers and judges and #22 based on its reputation among academics. A recent study of the impact of faculty research concludes that Emory Law is ranked #19 in academic influence-in the top tier-based on citations of faculty scholarship.
Emory's Law Library has enhanced the impact of faculty scholarship by developing Emory Law's Scholarly Commons, which acts as an institutional repository for faculty scholarship and other ELS publications. Between January 1, 2021, and July 19, 2023, people from 214 different countries have downloaded ELSC works, with a total of 344,955 distinct downloads.
Increase faculty engagement as experts and thought leaders
The Plan also recognizes our responsibility to offer faculty expertise on matters of public interest and concern, such as through involvement in law reform. In July 2023, for example, Matthew Sag, who serves as Professor of Law in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. Professor Sag testified that copyright law does not, and should not, recognize AI systems as authors.
The Law School's Office of Communication has invested in efforts to connect faculty members with local and national media. Faculty members have provided public education on the SCOTUS Dobbs ruling, the war in Ukraine, public health, and technology, grand juries, and constitutional law. In 2022, law faculty members appeared in more than 200 media stories.
Goal 3: Support the development and recognition of broad themes of scholarly and educational activities in areas that build on the strengths of the university and our location in Atlanta, as a major economic center, a significant health care hub, and epicenter of the civil rights movement.
Enhance recognition for existing centers of excellence
Emory Law's three centers of excellence in corporate and transactional law, health law, and civil rights and social justice are a natural outgrowth of the strengths of the university and our location in Atlanta, which is a major economic center with a long history of engagement with civil rights. The law school is also deeply engaged with the legal aspects of innovation, with the Tl:GER innovation certificate program and faculty members with globally recognized expertise in IP and Al and the law. The law school is also home to world-leading research programs, such as the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, the Vulnerability and Human Condition Initiative, and the Center for International and Comparative Law. Finally, the law school is well known for its outstanding clinical programs-the Turner Environmental Clinic, the Barton Child Law and Policy Center, and the International Humanitarian Law Clinic-and its flourishing externship program, which offers students the choice of over one hundred possible placement sites in governmental entities, corporations, nonprofits, and small firms.
The Plan supports a range of efforts to enhance the recognition and impact of these important programs. For example, Emory Law's website now features areas of impact to highlight these strengths to potential students and others. Our Office of Communication also ensures regular communication about these programs in print and e-publications. As a result, the law school has been able to maintain top rankings in many of these program areas. In US News and World Report's 2024 specialty rankings, Emory Law was ranked #23 in Contracts and Commercial Law and #25 in Business and Corporate Law and #29 in both Health Care Law and Constitutional Law.
Goal 4: Develop supportive and collaborative student engagement and development programs that enable students to thrive while in law school and to succeed as they launch their chosen careers.
As a national law school with some of the bright- est students in the country and a top 20 reputation among lawyers and judges, Emory Law seeks to offer its graduates outstanding career opportunities, here in Georgia and across the nation. The law school's Career Center implemented a host of new initiatives designed to enhance employment opportunities beginning in the fall of 2020, including:
- Requiring 1L students to complete a revised professional development course that educates students about the range of legal practice settings and subject areas as well as the financial framework of legal practice.
- Enhancing employer and alumni outreach to transform Emory Law into a "go-to" school for hiring. Employer engagement and recruitment has increased by 20% since the fall of 2020.
- Providing individual, tailored advising for each class year by an assigned career advisor for every JD, LLM, transfer student, and recent graduate. On average, the Center for Professional Development and Career Strategy conducts 225 advising appointments each month.
As a result, Emory Law graduates in 2021 and 2022 secured employment in "Gold Standard" law-related positions at the highest rate seen in at least a decade. In 2023, the National Law journal ranked Emory #24 on its list of "Go-To Law Schools" based on the percentage of graduates employed at the 100 largest law firms. Building on this success, the Career Center recently also assumed full responsibility for public interest careers and judicial clerkships.
Reinvigorate Practice Societies
Emory Law has created nineteen "Practice Societies" that combine faculty, student leaders, key alumni, and career strategy advisors to plan networking and professional development events focused around specific practice areas such as Litigation, Tax, Real Estate Law and Criminal Law. The Practice Society webpages also offer course advising information to students interested in those areas of practice. The Office of Student Life, led by Stephanie Dingle, is working on a post-pandemic reinvigoration of the Practice Societies by coordinating with Advancement and Alumni Engagement to ensure that each society has an event with an alumni panel of practitioners and to update the course advising materials to reflect new courses and full time and adjunct faculty experts.
Enhancing the Center for Public Service
In 2023, Emory Law marked the departure of Rita Sheffey, a luminary in the Georgia Bar who had devoted the past eight years to mentoring students interested in public interest and public service careers as assistant dean for public service. As Dean Sheffey prepared to take up her new role as executive director of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, the law school explored ways to enhance support for students. Beginning in summer 2023, as noted above, the Career Center will offer an integrated approach within which students can secure support for all of their career objectives within the Career Center. The Center for Public Service will focus on public interest programming, support for the Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC) and the EPIC summer fellowships, and the promotion of pro bono activities. EPIC grants are currently funded by spendable interest on several endowments, individual and law firm donations, and major gifts. With support from Emory Law alumni, faculty, and staff, the law school hopes to increase the number of EPIC grants so that the level of funding is sufficient to meet student demand for what would otherwise be unpaid summer internships with nonprofits or government.
Goal 5: Ensure that Emory Law incorporates access, antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in our hiring, admissions, student development and alumni engagement activities, and encourages and supports efforts to address these principles in teaching and research.
Develop leading-edge admission practices and enhance scholarships, financial aid, and LRAP funds
Emory Law has had an outstanding admission team, which has supported the recruitment of academically talented and diverse students to our JD and other graduate programs. The law school increased its median LSAT from 165 to 168 over the past four years. Students entering in fall of 2022 brought diverse backgrounds and experiences, with 78% coming to Emory from outside Georgia, representing 32 other states and the District of Columbia along with 19 countries of citizenship. According to data collected for the ABA, about 35 percent of the students in the entering 1L class were people of color.
The law school is deeply committed to enhancing scholarships, financial aid, and the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). Emory Law's ambitious goals in the Emory 2036 campaign include raising $40 million to double the amount of endowed support available to support students. The results to date demonstrate that alumni and other friends of the law school are also committed to students.
Over 20 years, the Atlanta Law School Foundation (created after the closing of the Atlanta Law School—a night law school, now defunct) contributed $2.SM+ to Emory Law in support of scholarships. The law school combined existing funds with a new gift to create the new $250,000 Atlanta Law School Foundation Scholarship endowment, which will support students who have demonstrated financial need, and military service, supporting families, and/or who are pursuing law school as a pathway to a second career.
Emory Law's focus on student support goes well beyond traditional scholarships. For example, Emory Trustee and Emory Law graduate Justice Leah Ward Sears and her husband Haskell Sears Ward have established the Leah Sears & Haskell Ward Law School Hardship Endowment, which will support Emory Law students who are experiencing urgent financial hardship. These funds will be made available to students starting this fall and other alumni and friends have already contributed additional gifts to bolster this fund.Create a center for civil rights and social justice
Emory Law's Plan recognized the school's responsibility-based on its location in Atlanta and the newly filled John Lewis Chair in Civil Rights and Social justice-to lead in teaching, research, and community engagement in civil rights and social justice. In 2021, the law school was honored to receive its largest single gift, $5 million, from the Southern Company Foundation, to support the creation of a new Center for Civil Rights and Social Justice. The Center serves as a hub for interdisciplinary scholarship, research, teaching, evidence-based policy reform, and community outreach that improves the lives of individuals who have experienced violations of their civil rights and been impacted by social injustice. Darren Hutchinson, who holds the John Lewis Chair in Civil Rights and Social Justice, was appointed as the faculty director of the Center. The Center, which has sponsored speakers and other events, recently named Alicia Hughes to serve as interim executive director of the Center and visiting assistant professor of practice.
Ensure curriculum and pedagogy create inclusive environment
The law school has continued to enhance its support for ensuring that JD students gain skills in crosscultural communication. Faculty members also participate in annual inclusive pedagogy programs.
Goal 6: Evaluate and, as appropriate, enhance the law school's global engagement and the development and implementation of distinguished graduate programs.
Continue distinctive approach to scholarship by incorporating international and comparative perspectives
Many of Emory Law's distinguished faculty members are involved in global legal issues or offer expertise in international and comparative law. For example, Vice Dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law Margo Bagley has been actively involved in negotiations for two proposed treaties that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assemblies agreed to send to diplomatic conferences. Former Naval JAG officer and current Associate Professor of Law Mark Nevitt combines expertise in national security law with research on the global and domestic legal challenges posed by climate change. Professor Stacie Strong, who will join Emory Law in January 2024, specializes in private international law and international arbitration. Faculty associ-ated with the Vulnerability and Human Condition Initiative (VHC) and the Center for the Study of Law and Religion have research ties to scholars around the world.
Robert W. Woodruff Professor Martha Fineman, who founded and leads both the VHCI and the Feminist Legal Theory Project, also serves as director of the law school's Center for International and Comparative Law (CICL). The CICL has initiated new community events and speakers' series on international and comparative law topics. The CICL also launched "The Constitution of Everyday Life: A Comparative Law and Policy Project" through which CICL will explore how fundamental societal institutions, such as the family, workplace, and health care systems, have been shaped in various legal cultures in the shadow of distinct foundational political principles.Evaluate and, as appropriate, augment non-JD programs, including graduate programs, certificate programs, and executive education offerings that target the need for legal knowledge in a broad range of fields
Strengthen the international profile and utility of the MCL and LLM degree programs for international law graduates
Emory Law offers a Master of Comparative Law in partnership with Shanghai jiao Tong University's KoGuan Law School. Graduates of foreign law schools are also drawn learn about US law and legal practice in Emory's LLM program. Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Assessment Lesley Carroll is leading the effort to enhance the MCL program in the post-pandemic landscape for global educational programs Visiting Professor of Practice John Acevedo, who has been appointed director of the LLM program, will be exploring options to enhance the program.
Goal 7: Enhance the law school's operations and infrastructure to address future needs related to legal education and research and to support the initiatives in this plan.
Modernize and upgrade facilities
Gambrell Hall opened more than 50 years ago and the law school is committed to ensuring that today's students, faculty, staff, and alumni are well-served within its walls. At the same time, there are numerous opportunities for modernization. The strategic plan was launched in the midst of the pandemic and the law school has invested nearly $350,000 into classroom technology.
Drive deeper engagement with alumni and successfully complete a major fundraising campaign
Emory Law's continued leadership in legal education and its ability to offer students outstanding support depends on alumni engagement and support. Alumni serve as advisory board members for the law school and its programs, help to recruit students in cities across the country, teach students as adjunct faculty members, and offer advice in career panels and carry out mock-and real-job interviews. The law school's Advancement and Alumni Engagement (AAE) team is in the midst of a multiyear campaign to increase the level of alumni participation and to double the size of the law school's endowment.
The law school is now able to offer greater support to alumni for reunions, including events at the law school and, in May 2023, a well-attended capstone reunion event at the Porsche Experience Center. Our AAE team collaborates with Career Services to enhance employment opportunities for graduates and with our Office of Academic Engagement and Student Success on bar mentoring and support. Last year saw more than 100 alumni mentors (graduates within the last five years) paired with as many recent graduates who were preparing to take Bar exams across the country.
Emory Law's endowment is one-sixth to one-half the size of the endowments of both its public and private law school peers. The law school's ambitious goals in the Emory 2036 campaign include doubling the size of its endowment and tripling the endowed funds available to support students. The law school is grateful for the strong support of alumni and friends, with both the largest single gift and the most successful fundraising year to date both recorded in 2021. The law school has raised $37 million overall in gifts, commitments, and bequests since the beginning of the campaign and is working to encourage potential donors at every level who have an interest in building the foundation for Emory Law's future success.
Further enhance law school communications and profile
The law school communications team manages seven different major streams of communications: Emory Lawyer magazine, Insights scholarship magazine, the alumni e-newsletter, the US News reputational survey campaign, the website, academic journals, and social media.
In mid-2021, the Office of Communications teamed with the Career Center to improve the cadence and tone of student communications and site enhancement. In May of 2021, we engaged a new social scheduling and listening platform called Falcon.io. We've used that software to help us in scheduling across our six existing social platforms, including TikTok, which we added in fall 2023 to reach our prospective student audience. In January of 2022, we contracted a media relations vendor to help us in highlighting and promoting our faculty as experts in their fields. We have seen a dramatic increase in local and national media placements since we began that relationship. In January 2023, we redesigned our alumni news presentation and began using a new Emory email system, Salesforce. It had the highest open rate for the past year. Our efforts have improved communications with and for our current and prospective student, alumni, and faculty audiences.
