Unlocking Law Teaching Careers: Strategies For Success

Breaking into law teaching jobs can be a challenging but rewarding endeavour. The process often involves a combination of academic excellence, practical experience, and networking. Here are some key steps to enhance your chances of securing a law teaching position:

- Academic Credentials: Aspiring law teachers should strive for exceptional academic performance during their legal studies. This includes achieving excellent grades, participating in law reviews, and preferably holding senior editorial positions.

- Judicial Clerkship: A prestigious judicial clerkship experience, such as at a US Court of Appeals or the US Supreme Court, can enhance your profile. However, in recent years, there has been a shift in focus, and academic institutions are increasingly seeking candidates with strong research skills and publications.

- Research and Publications: Law schools highly value scholarly accomplishments. Publishing articles in law reviews, writing books, and editing casebooks are essential to establishing yourself as a legal scholar. Consider presenting your work at conferences and seeking publication in reputable law journals.

- Networking and Mentorship: Building relationships with faculty members is crucial. Seek mentorship opportunities, as prominent faculty members can provide valuable references, advice, and support throughout your job search.

- Clinical Teaching Experience: Consider gaining experience in clinical teaching, which combines the academic setting with real-world practice. This can involve teaching in live-client clinics, providing practical and ethical education to students, and contributing to their practical legal education.

- Application and Interview Process: Familiarize yourself with the application procedures, including the annual recruitment conference sponsored by the American Association of Law Schools (AALS). Prepare thoroughly for interviews, job talks, and presentations to showcase your expertise and enthusiasm for the role.

- Part-Time and Adjunct Teaching: Starting as a part-time or adjunct teacher can be a foot in the door, allowing you to gain experience and build your profile before applying for full-time positions.

- Specialized Fellowships: Explore post-J.D. fellowship programs, such as the Academic Fellows Program, which provide opportunities to develop your teaching and research skills while gaining exposure to the academic environment.

- Advanced Degrees: While not always necessary, pursuing an advanced degree, such as an LL.M. or a Ph.D. in a related discipline, can enhance your credentials and provide additional opportunities for mentorship and scholarly development.

Remember, the path to law teaching may vary, and it's important to stay resilient and adaptable during your job search.

The Classical Path: exceptional academic performance, service on a law review, and a prestigious judicial clerkship

The Classical Path to a career in law teaching is a well-trodden route that, while no longer a guaranteed ticket to a good law-school teaching position, can help aspiring law teachers secure a job in academia. This path is characterised by three key milestones: exceptional academic performance in law school, service on a law review, and a prestigious judicial clerkship.

Exceptional academic performance typically involves graduating with top grades from a reputable university. This demonstrates to law schools that you have the necessary knowledge and intellectual ability to teach law. It also showcases your potential for scholarly productivity, which is a key criterion for law school appointments committees.

Service on a law review, preferably in a senior editorial position such as Articles Editor or Editor-in-Chief, is the second milestone. This demonstrates your ability to contribute to and shape legal discourse. It also provides an opportunity to develop relationships with faculty members, which can lead to valuable mentorship and recommendations.

The third milestone is a prestigious judicial clerkship, such as at a US Court of Appeals or, ideally, the US Supreme Court. This type of clerkship offers invaluable experience in the legal field and can further enhance your reputation among law faculty.

While The Classical Path used to be the most common route to law teaching, it is now just one of several paths that aspiring law teachers may take. The increasing interdisciplinarity of legal scholarship and the diversification of law school hiring criteria have made other routes, such as the LLM/Post-Doc/VAP Path and the Interdisciplinary Path, equally viable options.

Additionally, the competitiveness of the academic job market means that even those following The Classical Path may need to supplement their credentials with additional academic experience, research, or graduate degrees. Nonetheless, The Classical Path remains a respected and recognised route to a career in law teaching, providing a strong foundation for aspiring law teachers to build upon.

The LLM/“Post-Doc”/VAP Path: strong academic performance, journal work, and practical experience

The LLM/"Post-Doc"/VAP Path to Law Teaching

This path to a law teaching career is a more modern route, which has emerged as a result of the fierce competition for academic positions in law. It can be a good option for those who don't have an exceptional academic record but still want to pursue a career in law teaching. Here are the key steps and considerations for this path:

Strong Academic Performance

While an exceptional academic record is not necessary for this path, strong academic performance is still important. This includes getting good grades and, if possible, serving on a law review. Strong academic performance provides a solid foundation for your application and can help you secure positions that will enhance your profile, such as research assistantships.

Journal Work

Journal work or substantial writing experience is an essential component of this path. Aim to get involved with a journal during your time in law school, as this will provide you with valuable writing and research experience. Consider submitting your papers to law reviews or external law journals for publication. Getting published in reputable journals will significantly enhance your application.

Practical Experience

Although not mandatory, some practical experience is beneficial. This could be in the form of a clerkship or legal practice. Practical experience demonstrates your ability to apply legal concepts and can provide you with valuable insights that can enhance your teaching and research capabilities.

Additional Academic Experience

To compensate for any lack of exceptional academic achievement, this path emphasizes the importance of gaining additional academic experience and research credentials after graduating from law school. This could take several forms:

• Pursuing a graduate law degree (LL.M.) from a top law school.
• Teaching legal research and writing at a top law school with a program aimed at developing legal scholars and teachers.
• Obtaining a position as a Visiting Assistant Professor (VAP) or Fellow at a top law school's program, which serves as a stepping stone to a teaching career.

The key goal during this phase is to complete publishable scholarly work and impress the faculty members, who can then provide recommendations for teaching jobs.

Networking and Mentorship

Building relationships with faculty members is crucial. Seek out opportunities to work closely with professors, such as through research assistantships or by taking small classes that require writing papers. These connections can provide valuable mentorship, references, and support throughout your journey toward a law teaching career.

Other Considerations

• Be mindful of the competitiveness of the law teaching job market, and consider applying to a diverse range of schools, not just those in a specific geographical area or of a certain reputation.
• Start preparing your application materials and strategy well in advance, as the hiring process for entry-level, tenure-track teaching positions often begins more than a year before the start date.
• Participate in the annual recruitment conference sponsored by the American Association of Law Schools (AALS). This is a common pathway to law teaching, providing an opportunity to connect with schools and showcase your qualifications.
• Stay open to other pathways into law teaching, such as clinical teaching positions, which combine the excitement of a university setting with real-world work and practical education for students.

In conclusion, the LLM/"Post-Doc"/VAP Path to law teaching emphasizes strong academic performance, journal work, practical experience, and additional academic credentials. It provides an alternative route for those who may not have an exceptional academic record but are passionate about pursuing a career in law teaching.

The Interdisciplinary Path: graduate studies in another area of relevance to law

The Interdisciplinary Path (Path C) is one of the three routes to a career in law teaching. It involves pursuing graduate studies in another area relevant to law, such as history, economics, philosophy, sociology, or political science. This path is often combined with the Classical Path (Path A) or the LLM/ "Post-Doc"/VAP Path (Path B) but can be pursued independently if the work in the other discipline is of sufficient quality and distinction to attract the attention of law schools.

On this path, candidates typically earn a Ph.D. in addition to their law degree. The advantage of this approach is that it enhances one's scholarly credentials and demonstrates expertise in a specific area of law. For example, a specialist in environmental law might find a master's degree in chemistry or biology valuable. Obtaining an advanced degree in another discipline can make a candidate more attractive to law schools seeking to enhance their interdisciplinarity.

However, it is important to note that pursuing an advanced degree should be driven by a strong, intrinsic interest in the subject rather than just the credential. The content of one's writing and the quality of one's ideas are more important than academic pedigree when it comes to securing a law teaching position. Additionally, many faculty members at top law schools are hired without any degree beyond a JD.

When considering the Interdisciplinary Path, it is advisable to seek advice from faculty members in the relevant discipline. For example, at the University of Chicago, candidates can consult with professors in economics, philosophy, history, and political science, depending on their chosen area of focus.

In conclusion, the Interdisciplinary Path can be a viable option for those seeking to enter law teaching. By combining legal expertise with knowledge from another discipline, candidates can enhance their scholarly profile and increase their chances of securing a law teaching position, especially if they can produce outstanding interdisciplinary work.

Tenure-track, clinical, and legal research and writing positions

Tenure-track faculty

Tenure-track faculty are hired primarily to teach doctrinal courses and are eligible for tenure. They teach courses that focus on the legal doctrine in an area or field, as well as the moral, theoretical, historical, and social questions and assumptions that have shaped that doctrine. Most of the courses that law students take have traditionally been taught by tenure-track faculty. Examples of courses taught by tenure-track faculty include most first-year law courses (e.g. Contracts, Torts, Property) and second and third-year courses such as Evidence, Corporations, Securities Regulation, Family Law, Criminal Procedure, Public International Law, First Amendment, Employment Discrimination, Feminist Legal Theory, and Critical Race Theory.

Clinical faculty

Clinical faculty instruct, monitor, and assess the work of law students on cases with actual or simulated clients. The most common student-teacher ratio in clinical courses is 8:1, though this can vary. Clinical faculty may or may not be tenure-stream, depending on the law school. If they are on the tenure track, they are often required to produce scholarship in addition to working on their cases, teaching, and service. At some institutions, tenure-track clinical faculty do not cover cases in the summer so that they can devote time to scholarship.

Legal research and writing faculty

Legal research and writing faculty instruct students on legal research, analysis, and writing. Writing exercises may include drafting client letters, office memoranda, pretrial briefs, and appellate briefs. Advocacy skills are also developed through oral exercises such as client interviewing and oral argument. Legal writing faculty usually also engage in one-on-one conferences with students. Depending on the law school, legal writing faculty may or may not be tenure-track. Many legal writing faculty positions are contractual and may not come with the same voting rights, scholarship requirements, or teaching duties as tenure-track faculty positions.

Breaking into law teaching jobs

• Get excellent grades at a distinguished law school, be a law review member or officer, and/or have a prestigious clerkship after graduation.
• Develop a strong record of scholarly achievement. By the time you are applying for tenure-track teaching jobs, you should have at least one polished piece of work ready to be submitted to prospective employers and used as a "job talk". Most law faculties still value candidates who have practiced law, so a few years of experience can be beneficial, especially if you have also been able to write.
• Consider pursuing post-J.D. training or a fellowship to prepare for an academic career. For example, Columbia Law School's Academic Fellows program allows emerging scholars to teach legal research and writing during the first semester and develop their scholarship in the second semester and summer.
• Work as a research assistant for a professor to enhance your research skills and your familiarity with the subject matter, gain mentoring, and get a valuable reference.
• Seek out opportunities to present papers in seminars and at conferences to make helpful contacts.
• Let your professors know that you are interested in a teaching career, even if they are not in your field of research.
• When applying for jobs, be prepared to discuss your teaching interests and publications/research projects. You should be able to state the thesis of your work concisely and answer questions about ideas for future work.
• Familiarize yourself with the work of faculty members at the schools you are applying to, especially those whose work is related to yours. Your job talk should not ignore faculty publications on the same topic but also shouldn't pander by invoking their work where it is not relevant.
• Submit your application materials early to increase your chances of getting an interview. For example, the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) distributes candidates' resumes to appointments committees in three distributions, and many hiring committees start their review of applications in the summer.
• Be prepared for a lengthy and challenging hiring process. The academic job market is extremely competitive, and you may need to apply for multiple years before getting an offer.

Example job postings

• The University of Oregon School of Law invites applications from entry-level candidates for a tenure-track assistant professor position focusing on Tax Law and Trusts & Estates.
• California Western School of Law is seeking applications from entry-level or lateral candidates for a tenured or tenure-track position. They are looking for candidates with strong academic backgrounds, a commitment to teaching excellence, and demonstrated potential to be productive scholars.
• Brooklyn Law School seeks applicants for three or more full-time, entry-level or lateral tenured or tenure-track faculty positions. They are interested in candidates with teaching and research interests across all areas of law, with a special focus on constitutional law, civil procedure, tax, and business law subjects.
• The University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law looks to hire two Experiential Learning Lecturers, one focusing on civil law and one on criminal law. These are not tenure-track positions, but successful applicants will have the potential opportunity to teach other courses.
• The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Law who will be responsible for designing, directing, and teaching a new in-house clinic. They are looking for candidates with relevant practice experience, outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, a passion for teaching and supervising law students, and a dedication to experiential education.

The importance of research and publishing

Research and publishing are integral components of a career in law teaching. The importance of these aspects is highlighted below:

• Demonstrating Scholarly Potential: Law schools prioritize the appointment of individuals with strong scholarly potential. Publishing research articles in reputable law reviews or journals is a concrete way to showcase this potential. It demonstrates a capacity for critical thinking, analytical skills, and a contribution to the advancement of legal scholarship.
• Enhancing Employability: Publications play a pivotal role in securing a teaching position. Many law schools consider publications when evaluating candidates, and having published work can set applicants apart in a competitive job market. A solid publication record may even compensate for less-than-stellar grades or a lack of traditional credentials.
• Specialization and Expertise: Through research and publishing, aspiring law teachers can develop and showcase expertise in specific areas of law. This specialization can make them more attractive candidates for law schools seeking instructors in those particular fields.
• Building Academic Networks: The process of conducting research and publishing involves collaborating and networking with other scholars and professors. These connections can provide valuable mentorship, references, and support when applying for teaching positions.
• Personal Development: Research and publishing foster the development of essential skills such as writing, critical analysis, and perseverance. These skills not only enhance an individual's ability to teach effectively but also contribute to their overall professional growth.
• Contributing to Legal Scholarship: Law professors are expected to contribute to the body of legal knowledge through their research and publications. This involves exploring new ideas, conducting in-depth analyses, and presenting innovative perspectives on legal topics.
• Attracting Students: Law schools aim to attract top students by showcasing the research accomplishments of their faculty. Published work by professors can enhance the reputation of the institution and attract high-caliber students who are interested in specialized areas of law.
• Complementing Teaching: Research and publishing allow law professors to stay abreast of the latest developments in their field and incorporate cutting-edge knowledge into their teaching. This ensures that students receive a high-quality, up-to-date education.
• Fostering Collaboration: Research projects often involve collaboration between scholars, fostering a culture of intellectual exchange and collaboration within law schools. This collaborative environment benefits both students and faculty, leading to a more dynamic and engaging academic community.
• Career Advancement: For those seeking tenure-track positions, research and publishing are crucial. Publications are heavily weighted in tenure decisions, as they demonstrate ongoing productivity, impact in the field, and a commitment to the advancement of legal knowledge.

Frequently asked questions