Aspen Leading Edge

Katie Kempner, AALS Associate Director of Research and Data Analytics, speaks with Patty Roberts about their joint report, Relentless: The Pressures Shortening Law School Deanships and What Must Change. They discuss the origin of the idea and the process they used to survey and interview current and former deans from across the country. They also share a summary of their findings on why deanships have shortened over the years.

Melanie Leslie, Cardozo Law, discusses her role as Dean and her experience over the past 12 years, including during the COVID pandemic, and plans to celebrate the school's 50th birthday. She also shares details about the Dean's Leadership Academy, which helps all faculty build fundamental leadership skills, such as giving a quick speech, understanding a budget, and managing a team. 

Barry Friedman of NYU Law and John Goldberg of Harvard Law School discuss the third edition of their book, Open Book: Succeeding on Law School Exams from Day One. They discuss the book's origins and what has been updated in this anticipated edition.

 Korin Munsterman, Director of Legal Education Technology Program at UNT Dallas Collage of Law, discusses her journey through legal education and technology. She also shares practical ways professors and students can use generative AI in legal education.

Sam Panarella, CEO of The Foundation of Natural Resources and Energy Law, speaks about his new role and his time as dean of the UMass Dartmouth School of Law. He shares some of the accomplishments that were achieved during his time as dean, including developing a summer program in Portugal.

Anthony Crowell, Dean of New York Law School, discusses his journey to becoming dean eleven years ago. He also highlights the advantages of being located in New York City and explains how the school continues to engage with the community. Some initiatives he also talks about include the Think BIG Curriculum and the Constitutional and Citizenship Day Summit.

Ernie Walton, Dean of Regent University School of Law, discusses his journey to legal education and how he became dean. He also shares the incredible rise in rankings that Regent University is seeing for a young law school and how he sees the school growing. He also speaks about the Center of Global Justice and the Foundations of Practice programs.  

William C. Hubbard, dean of the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, discusses the World Justice Project, where he acts as co-founder and chair of the Board. He shares the work the World Justice Project has been doing, including the Rule of Law Index, which serves as a source for original data on the rule of law.  

Martin Ellin, Dean at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, reflects on his first year as dean. He shares the interesting things going on at the law school, including the Criminal and Civil Justice Institute. He also provides insight into his upcoming emotional intelligence course, which he will teach over the summer, and explains why it is important for students to enhance their communication skills.

Luke Yingling, founder and CEO of Rhetoric, shares how he founded the company as a 2L and how it uses AI to deliver dynamic feedback and practice for students and universities. He discusses the different modules and events, including Moot Court Madness, interview preparation, cold-calling practice, and deposition preparation.