Careers in Law Teaching Program | Columbia Law School
2009 Workshops
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Monday February 16, 12:10: “Getting into Clinical Law Teaching” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: Mary Zulack & Alexandra Carter
The discussion will focus on the ways one might prepare for a career in clinical teaching and how this is similar to and different from other types of teaching careers. We will also talk about the various types of clinical teaching positions that are available.
Monday, February 23, 12:10: “Writing Opportunities in Law School” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: Bert Huang & Robert Ferguson
This will be a very informal discussion about what you can do in law school to lay the groundwork, or at least leave the door open, for an academic career. We'll focus mainly on opportunities for scholarly writing. The speakers at this session include a former President of the Harvard Law Review and a Professor in Law, Literature, and Criticism. You can gain much from law school writing without publishing, but for some written work on how to publish legal writing as a student, you might also see Academic Legal Writing (2010) or 48 J. Legal Educ. 247 (1998), which may be useful background to the discussion.
Monday, March 2, 12:10: “From Private Practice to Teaching” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: Jeff Gordon and Alex Raskolnikov
Learn from people who have made the transition from private practice to law teaching for a discussion of questions such as these: How does practice differ from teaching? Why might one prefer to teach? What steps should one think about and begin to take to get ready to go on the teaching market while still in practice? How does one plan a scholarly agenda from the trenches of practice?
Professor Jeffrey Gordon is the Alfred W. Bressler Professor of Law and Co-director for the Center for Law and Economic Studies. Professor of Law Alex Raskolnikov is also Co-Chair of the Charles E. Gerber Transactional Studies Program.
Monday March 9, 12:10: “Beyond Law School: Clerkships, Fellowships, and Ph.D.s” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: Samuel Bray, Elizabeth Emens & Ben Trachtenberg
Are clerkships the ticket to a teaching job? Can getting a PhD before, during, or after Law School help? Other graduate degrees? What about post-law school opportunities to write in fellowship programs and in legal writing programs? Come learn about these things and more.
Samuel Bray is currently Associate-in-Law. He is a former Associate of Mayer Brown LLP in Washington, D.C., and was Law Clerk to The Honorable Michael McConnell, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Salt Lake City, Utah. Elizabeth Emens is currently Associate Professor of Law and Co-chair of the Program in Careers in Law Teaching. She is a former Bigelow Fellow & Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School and was Law Clerk to Judge Robert D. Sack, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ben Trachtenberg in currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School. He was a litigation associate at Covington & Burling LLP, and he clerked at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit with the Honorable Jose A. Cabranese.
Monday, March 23, 12:10: “Interdisciplinarity in Legal Scholarship and Teaching” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: William Gentry and John Witt
Legal academia has become increasingly interdisciplinary. Join Professors Gentry and Witt, historian and economist, for an engaging discussion of this trend.
Monday, March 30, 12:10: “Teaching Abroad: UK and Europe” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: John Armour, Franco Ferrari, Katharina Pistor, and Rebecca Williams
This session will focus on the academic teaching market abroad, particularly in the UK and western Europe. Professors Armour, Ferrari, Pistor, and Williams have taught both in the US and abroad and will offer comparative insights. The session may be of particular interest to LLM students.
Monday, April 13, 12:10: “Why You Should (or Shouldn't) Become a Law Professor” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: Bob Scott and Susan Sturm
Professors Scott and Sturm believe that they have the best jobs in the entire world. But at the same time, they recognize that not everyone has the quirks of personality that make for fulfilled life in legal academia. Figuring out if you are such a person requires both self-knowledge and an accurate picture of what law professors spend their time doing, including realistic understanding of the adversities as well as the rewards. Professors Scott and Sturm will speak about the need for passion about the material with which one works, the need for self-motivation and the ability to work mostly alone for long periods of time, and the need to appreciate powerful criticism without losing sight of the value of one's own project.
Monday, April 20, 12:10: “Balancing Career and Family” (Room: JGH 940)
Speakers: Risa Goluboff and Richard Schragger (rescheduled from April 6)
Two married law professors with children will talk about the pleasures and complexities of managing career and family.
Tuesday, July 14, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.: “Submitting Materials for the First AALS FAR Distribution in July of 2009” (Room JGH 805)
Led by: Professors Carol Sanger and Vince Blasi
A very informal meeting for those who are submitting their materials for the first AALS FAR distribution in July, as there are often questions that come up and it sometimes helps to hear other people’s concerns.
Monday, September 14, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: Attending the Faculty Recruitment Conference (or as it is so colorfully called, “the meat market”) in Washington in Early November. (Room WJW 600)
Led by: Professors Carol Sanger, Vince Blasi, and Philip Genty
We want to let you know what the law school is doing to help out with the process before, during, and after the FRC. Some of our advice will be familiar to those of you who have been through the AALS hiring process before, but some of what follows may be new.
Monday, November 2nd, Pre-Meat Market Meeting, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., (Room: JGH 102)
On Monday, November 2nd, we will hold a panel discussion at 6:30 p.m., featuring new professors who navigated the AALS hiring process in recent years and are now in teaching. The session will be held in Room 102 Jerome Greene Hall (first floor of the law school). The speakers are: David Cohen (Drexel Law School); Katharina de la Durantaye (St. John's); and Jamal Greene (Columbia), and they will be talking about the interviewing process in DC, about call-backs, and about job talks.