Faith Rivers James presents on Elon Law leadership program

The law school's associate dean of experiential education and leadership took part in two programs organized as part of the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools.

Faith Rivers James, associate dean of experiential learning and leadership at Elon Law
Associate Dean Faith Rivers James shared insights into Elon Law’s nationally recognized leadership program as part of a panel presentation this month at the 111th annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools.

Rivers James joined the Student Services Section Panel on Student Leadership with Don Polden, dean emeritus of Santa Clara Law School, at the San Francisco conference held Jan. 3-7, 2017.

Rivers James discussed how Elon Law’s program provides innovative, sequenced leadership development training for all law students over two years.

Rivers also participated in the AALS Discussion Group on “Introducing Leadership Development into the Law School Curriculum,” moderated by Deborah Rhode of Stanford Law and featuring several deans and professors who work and write in the “law and leadership” area.

The AALS “serves as the learned society for the more than 9,000 law faculty at its member schools, and provides them with extensive professional development opportunities.”

Faith Rivers James teaches legislation, nonprofit organizations, property, and public law & leadership, a course she created at Elon Law. She is a member of the South Carolina Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, and the North Carolina Bar Association, where she serves on the Citizen Lawyer Committee and the Real Property Section’s Legislative Committee.

​A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Rivers James has done extensive research on preservation of African American property ownership. She was instrumental in the creation of the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation in Charleston, for which the South Carolina Bar Foundation received the National Conference of Bar Foundations Award for Excellence in Programming in 2004.