Today, law schools that are revolutionizing legal education through their innovative programs are being recognized for their efforts. Bloomberg Law has launched its Law School Innovation Program to honor schools that are utilizing new methods for student instruction, incorporating legal technology, promoting experiential learning, and pushing the boundaries of legal education in other ways. We are highlighting 10 of the most noteworthy innovations in this field.
Bloomberg Law Announces Law School Innovation Program Winners
The legal industry is constantly evolving and law schools must adapt to meet the changing needs of their students and the workforce. The Bloomberg Law's Law School Preparedness Survey highlights the importance of innovation in legal education, as it found that lawyers believe new attorneys should have skills in client communication, legal technology, legal operations, and data literacy before entering the workforce. These skills are not always taught in traditional law school curriculums, which can leave new attorneys unprepared for the workforce. However, innovative approaches to legal education can help bridge this gap by exposing students to new topics and providing them with hands-on experience to be successful in the legal market.
Brooklyn Law School, Drake University, Georgia State University, and More Honored for Pushing Legal Education Boundaries.
The Law School Innovation Program aims to address this issue by recognizing law schools that are pushing the boundaries of legal education through their innovative programs. Bloomberg Law invited law schools to submit their success stories and showcase their innovations, including institutes, clinics, courses, teaching methods, and other educational programs. These innovations cover a wide range of themes such as technology, business, social justice, and student well-being. More than 60 schools from 25 states applied to the program and were evaluated by a panel of practicing attorneys, legal technology and legal operations professionals, in-house counsel, recent law school graduates, and Bloomberg Law experts who have experience working with law firms, businesses, and academic institutions.
The Top 10
The panel’s evaluations yielded a list of 10 finalists, based on the criteria of innovation, impact on students, ability to advance the legal industry, and replicability. They are:
- Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic, Brooklyn Law School
- First Year Trial Practicum, Drake University Law School
- Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative, Georgia State University College of Law
- The National Appellate Clinic Network, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
- Privacy Law Certificate, Santa Clara University School of Law
- First ABA accredited fully-online J.D. program, St Mary’s University School of Law
- Legal Innovation & Technology Concentration, Suffolk University Law School
- Integrated Education on Well-Being and Thriving in the Law, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
- Legal Business Design Hub, University of Richmond School of Law
- Leveraging Technology to Promote Access to Justice Course, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
REFERENCE:
ANALYSIS: Bloomberg Law Announces Top 10 Law School Innovators
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberg-law-analysis/analysis-bloomberg-law-announces-top-10-law-school-innovators