Members of the Elon law school advisory board, which is chaired by former presidential advisor David Gergen, held their fall meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 11-12 at the Weaver Building in downtown Greensboro. Details...
Advisory board members had the opportunity to attend classes in civil procedure, legal research and writing, evidence and contracts before Gergen opened the meeting with a welcome. The Board was engaged Tuesday with the law school’s plans to prepare students for the bar exam, the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, the Elon Center for Engaged Learning in Legal Education, the role of preceptors in Elon’s model of engaged legal learning and fundraising.
An update was given on the law school’s preparations for the November visit of the American Bar Association inspection team. The ABA will be considering provisional approval of the Elon law program during 2008. Elon’s strategy to gain ABA accreditation at the earliest possible date is to exceed the ABA’s primary requirements regarding resources, faculty, facilities, library, educational program and admissions.
The meeting concluded Wednesday morning with a presentation by John Alexander on designing the law school’s program for leadership development. Alexander, who is Elon’s Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership for 2007-2008, will work primarily with the law school during his term as the Cannon Professor and will serve as a resource for faculty, students and administrators.
Members of the advisory board include:
David Gergen (chair), Cambridge, Mass.; former adviser to four U.S. presidents and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Noel Allen, Raleigh, N.C.; Partner, Allen and Pinnix, PA; Elon University trustee
Rhoda Bryan Billings, Lewisville, N.C.; N.C. Supreme Court, 1985-86, Chief Justice 1986; President, N.C. Bar Association, 1991-92; Professor Emeritus, Wake Forest University School of Law
R. Steve Bowden, Greensboro, N.C.; Principal, R. Steve Bowden Associates; member, University of North Carolina Board of Governors
Alfred (A.P.) Carlton Jr., Raleigh, N.C.; Partner, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP; President, American Bar Association, 2002-03
Donald R. Dancer, Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Acting Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel, International Rectifier Corporation
David L. DeVries, Greensboro, N.C.; Partner, Kaplan DeVries, Inc.; Senior Fellow, Center for Creative Leadership
James G. Exum, Greensboro, N.C.; Smith Moore LLP; N.C. Supreme Court, 1974-94, Chief Justice, 1986-94
Henry E. Frye, Greensboro, N.C.; Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP; N.C. Supreme Court, 1983-2000, Chief Justice, 1999-2000; N.C. House of Representatives, 1968-80; N.C. Senate, 1980-82
Ellen M. Gregg, Winston-Salem, N.C.; partner, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC; member, N.C. Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism
James E. Holshouser, Pinehurst, N.C.; senior partner, The Sanford Holshouser Law Firm LLP; N.C. Governor, 1973-77
James B. Hunt, Raleigh, N.C.; partner, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC; N.C. Governor, 1977-1985, 1993-2001
Robert E. (Bobby) Long Jr., Greensboro, N.C.; Granville Capital, Inc.; Elon University trustee
Thomas P. (Pat) Maroney, Charleston, W. Va.; Principal owner, Maroney, Williams, Weaver & Pancake PLLC; Member, Elon University Board of Visitors
Bonnie McElveen Hunter, Greensboro, N.C.; Chairman of the American Red Cross; Founder and CEO, Pace Communications; U.S. Ambassador to Finland 2001-2003
William (Bill) McNairy, Greensboro, N.C.; Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP; J.D. and Certified Public Accountant
Maureen Kelley O’Connor, Chapel Hill, N.C.; Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
Edmond Seferi, New York, NY; Partner, McKee Nelson, LLP; Chief of Staff to the president of Albania, 1992-1994
James C. (Jack) Spencer Jr., Burlington, N.C.; N.C. Resident Superior Court Judge, Judicial District 15A; Private law practice 1969-94
Jonathan Wall, Greensboro, N.C.; partner, Robertson, Medlin & Troutman PLLC; member, Board of Governors, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers; member, Board of Governors, New Lawyers Division, Association of Trial Lawyers of America