The legal technology and research platform showcased the law school and its emphasis on student outcomes as part of its inaugural Law School Innovation Program.
Elon University School of Law’s experiential curriculum with a focus on student success was among the innovations featured this month in a Bloomberg Law initiative that celebrates pioneering approaches to legal education.
Bloomberg Law’s inaugural Law School Innovation Program “recognizes law schools and their faculty and staff that have implemented and led innovative programs into their curricula that advance new methodologies and approaches to student instruction, legal technology implementation and usage, experiential learning, and other facets of legal education.”
More than 90 applications from over 60 law schools were submitted for consideration in the first year of the program. Submissions were evaluated by attorneys, legal tech and legal operations professionals, in-house counsel, and Bloomberg Law experts who weighed programs’ innovation, impact on students, ability to advance the legal industry, and replicability.
Elon Law was among six schools included in “Analysis: How Innovative Law Schools Foster Student Development” by Jessica R. Blaemire, a senior legal analyst for Bloomberg Law.
“Notably, these schools use qualitative and quantitative data to track their programs’ impact on students,” Blaemire writes. “Thus, not only are these law schools trying to improve the law student experience—they’re making sure they are aiding student development.”
From the analysis:
Elon University School of Law’s redesigned experiential curriculum graduates students in less time than traditional law school programs, with less student loan debt at graduation, and with extensive practical training and stronger connections to the profession. The curriculum features highly personalized professional development for its law students which begins with an introductory course—Lawyering, Leadership, and Professionalism—and continues with an integrated sequence of courses and experiential learning opportunities that emphasize legal writing, oral advocacy, and broader professional competencies not traditionally taught in law schools.
Elon Law is the first—and currently only—law school that fosters student development through course-connected residencies in the practice of law. The impact of this innovative approach is shown through improved admissions, bar passage, and career placement rates since the adoption of the curriculum.
“These data points demonstrate a strong demand for law schools that place student needs and development at the center of their approach to educating future attorneys, and we’re proud of the strides we have made together as a community in our noble mission,” said Interim Dean Alan Woodlief.
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