Law School Academic Support Blog

Welcome to new Asst. Director of Bar Prep at Phoenix School of Law

I would like to welcome Jill Hudson to the ASP group as she begins her job at Phoenix School of Law.  She has provided the information below so that we can get to know her.  Unfortunately, she is not yet added to her law school's website for us to link to a photograph so that you will recognize her face at the next ASP event.  (Amy Jarmon)

Jill Hudson is the Assistant Director of Bar Prep at Phoenix School of Law.  She is an alumna of the University of Arizona, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Business Economics).  In 1998, Jill earned a Juris Doctor from Regent University School of Law in Virginia, where she served on the Moot Court Board and competed on the National Moot Court Team.  She also contributed to her law school as the Executive Secretary and Executive President of the Student Bar Association.

Immediately following law school and passing the AZ bar exam, Jill served as a Deputy County Attorney for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office where she prosecuted adult felony and misdemeanor crimes.  Prior to joining Phoenix School of Law, Jill was an adjunct professor for Northern Arizona University’s Distance Learning program (an accelerated bachelor degree program for law enforcement officers), Western International University (undergraduate and graduate level classes), and Chandler-Gilbert Community College (both as an adjunct and instructor for their Law Enforcement Training Academy).

Jill’s true passion is teaching and encouraging students, and she is excited to blend this passion with her experience and education for the benefit of the Phoenix School of Law students. 

Where are all the new ASP professionals? A report from AALS Workshop for New Law Prof's

I just returned from the AALS Workshop for New Law Prof.  Overall, the conference was a success. I learned a great deal, digesting some especially good advice on scholarship and course planning.  But I was struck, throughout the conference, by the almost complete lack of ASP professionals in attendance.  The absolutely wonderful LSAC New ASP Prof workshop was just a few weeks ago, so I know there are 50+ new ASP prof's.  While attendance at the very recent LSAC New ASP Prof workshop may explain some of the absence, it does not explain why I did not see any familiar faces at the AALS workshop. 

The dearth of ASP prof's at the AALS workshop concerns me deeply for many reasons.  The first reason has to do with our status in the legal academy, or our lack of status in the legal academy.  Too often we are seen as lesser professionals, beneath "substantive" or "doctrinal" professors, more like support staff with J.D.'s.  The lack of respect accorded our profession is compounded when we are left out of workshops and conferences that teach young professionals how to research and publish. Without knowledge of how to produce scholarship, AS may be forever doomed to second-class citizenship.  More disconcerting is the genuine need for more scholarship in the areas where AS is focused; how to foster achievement in disadvantaged students, how help students pass the bar exam, how to teach so students learn, and how to reform legal education so we produce a better bench and bar. But AS professionals are not attending workshops and conferences that teach them how to produce meaningful, important scholarship. 

Why aren't we attending these conferences and workshops for new law prof's? Part of the reason we are not afforded respect is the belief what we do is easy. "Easy" fields are less likely to get funding to advance skills or scholarship. But the facts point in the opposite direction; what we do is anything but easy.  If helping students pass the bar was such an easy task, why aren't "doctrinal" professors successfully teaching students to pass the bar in their substantive classes?  Bar prep, bar planning, and bar courses for credit are some of the most rigorous and difficult classes to teach when they are successful.  Not only does a successful bar course require rock-solid knowledge of at least six bar-tested subjects, but a firm knowledge of test-taking skills, and includes a very heavy load of exam grading and feedback.  Those of us who don't work with 3L's and bar takers have a similarly heavy load. We work with the students many professors give up on, students deemed unable to handle the rigors of law school.  Over and over, these students succeed when given the opportunity to learn and practice skills their peers either know intuitively or learned in (better) secondary schools.   In an average week during an academic semester, I grade and give feedback on approximately 20-40 essay exams.  I am looking for signs that my students may have learning disabilities, mental or emotional challenges, financial problems, or family concerns that are keeping them from achieving their best. And I am keeping up with the substantive coursework in their doctrinal classes so I can prepare practice exams that accurately mirror what they have covered in class.  I am preparing workshops for the entire 1L class in exam and life skills.   Yet, in so many places, this is "easy" work that doesn't merit scholarship or funds to travel to conference and workshops like "substantive" faculty. 

Maybe some of the reasons we are not attending these workshops and conferences is feeling like we don't belong and we are self-segregating out of conferences were we feel marginalized.  The focus at AALS was on doctrinal courses, but there was plenty of cross-over to AS topics. True, the small-group breakout sessions were labeled by doctrinal subject and I was relegated to the "speciality" category, but I still had a place at the workshop.  One of our own AS folk, Kris Knapland of Pepperdine, gave a wonderful presentation on learning theory. But we will never get an "ASP" breakout session if we are not attending the New Prof Workshop.  We are a part of AALS, and we belong there. We need the same (and more) skills and training as new doctrinal professors, on how to navigate administrative and budget concerns, how to maintain a work-life balance, how to network, and how to have challenging conversations in the classroom or the office.

My call to all new AS professionals is this: advocate for yourself. Push for the training you need to succeed. Put critical conferences and workshops on your agenda when you talk to your supervisors. Pursue meaningful scholarship, even if you are not tenure-track. Scholarship is important to the field, important to your development as a professional, and important as we seek to improve legal education for all students.
(RCF) 

Sharing time & spotllight time again!

First things second.

Spotlight time.  Presenting ... ALEX RUSKELL.  Alex took over leadership of the Academic Success effort at Roger Williams University School of law this academic year.  From all reports, he's doing a super job!

Before this year, Alex served as the Director of the Academic Support Program at Southern New England School of Law, and before that, Associate Director of the Legal Writing Center at the University of Iowa College of Law. In his earlier life, he litigated in Boston, focusing on securities and corporate non-competition agreements. He has also served as General Counsel for a mid-size publishing company, Associate for a large oil and gas firm, and as an Assistant in the Texas Attorney General’s Office of Environmental Crimes.

His academic background is varied — and thus well-suited to academic support!  He holds an M.F.A. in Fiction from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, an A.L.M. in English from Harvard University, a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in English from Washington and Lee University.

Before practicing law, he taught in a Russian orphanage and counted otters for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Both of these resulted in several articles, printed in The Tampa Tribune and many other publications.

Alex frequently presents at writing conferences and symposiums across the country, most recently at the 2006 AWP Conference in Austin, Texas, where he sat on a panel questioning the continuing vitality of the American novel.

Now, how does this tie in with "sharing"?  Alex gave me permission to post his latest exam-answering advice to the RWU SOL students.  It's terrific.  Here goes . . .

The Brain Dump — a bad strategy for answering an exam question where the student writes down everything he or she knows about a particular subject instead of actually answering the question asked.

EXAMPLE:  My History of Music Exam asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how funky is Prince?  Please explain your answer."  In response, I wrote down everything I knew about music, starting with atonality and Gregorian chants, and then all the way up to whether Axl Rose will ever release Chinese Democracy. It took me three hours to write, and I never got to the other questions.  The correct answer was 11, because "His name is Prince, and he is funky.  When it comes to funk, he is a junkie."  I got a zero for my answer.  Then I cried a lot.

Reasons for the Brain Dump:

1.  Fear and panic

2.  Not understanding the question

3.  Being angry the exam didn't ask you something you spent 4 hours figuring out (e.g., "I will talk about unjust enrichment!")

Why the Brain Dump is a Bad Idea:

1.  Professors like grading exams about as much as you like taking them.

2.  You're under time pressure.

3.  It shows you don't understand the question.

4.  Hand cramps.

5.  Exams, on some level, try to replicate what you will be doing as an attorney.  Basically, if a client came in and asked you how to defend against a battery charge, would you tell him or her absolutely everything you know about intentional torts?  Do you think you're client would enjoy this?  Would you? (...from Alex Ruskell via djt)

Check Out Vernellia Randall's ASP Website

If you have never visited Vernellia Randall's ASP website, you are in for a treat.  It is up and running at http://www.onlineasp.org/.  (Dan Weddle)

Teacher of the Year!

One of our own, Mario Mainero, was voted Teacher of the Year for the 2005-2006 school year by the students at Whittier Law School.  The honor, of course, is hardly a surprise to anyone familiar with all that he does for the Whittier students. Congratulations, Mario!  (dbw)

Academic Support Spotlight

It's about time I announce that . . .

In August, Lorraine Newton Lalli, Esq., joined the Academic Support group at Roger Williams University School of Law.  In her new position, as Director of Diversity and Outreach and Associate Director of the Academic Support Program, Lorraine is responsible for diversity outreach and programming, and development and delivery of academic support activities and programs.

Lorraine received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Spelman College and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Roger Williams University School of Law — where she was a member of the School of Law Honors Program and the salutatorian of her law school graduating class.

Lorraine, a Providence, Rhode Island native, is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Providence Alumnae Chapter.

During her three years at Roger Williams, Lorraine served as president of the Multi-Cultural Law Students Association.  She served as a consultant to the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and she went on to practice banking and finance law in the Boston office of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israel, LLP. 

Lorraine complements our fine group of talented professionals in the Academic Support Program — Associate Director of Academic Support, Jon Strauss, and Tracy Sartrys, our Administrative Assistant.  (djt)

Kudos to Kris!

Of course, I should have brought along the digital camera to take a group photo.  Kris Franklin (pictured, right) organized another wonderful NY-centered worskshop on Friday, November 18. 

Academic Supporters from Maryland, Pace, NYLS, Touro, Hofstra (see Richard Neumann, at right) , Quinnipiac (see Gail Stern, at left), Roger Williams, Fordham and Cuny gathered to discuss, learn and work together. 

You shoulda' been there!  Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus  and Myra Berman taught us how to use "IRAC Diagraming" to help students "...see IRAC in action."  Fabulous.

Mark Padin sparked a discussion about  LSAT/diversity-minority/bar-pass issues, concerns and controversies ... not the least of which was the mandatory vs. voluntary participation controversy, which led ... as you would expect ... to the stigma/backlash controversy.  Mark not only offered his own comments and experiences, but distributed material documenting the disturbing fact that "minority representation among law students has dropped for the past two years, from 20.6 percent in 2001-2002 to 20.3 percent in 2003-2004" (based on ABA statistics).

[By the way, one of the articles Mark handed out was from a publication you may be unaware of: Minority Law Journal Student Edition.  This particular article featured the FIU and FAMU attempts to "increase the legal profession's diversity in Florida." ed.]

Dionne Koller (left) explained how she trains and employs "Teaching Fellows" to assist with the Academic Support Mission at the U. of Maryland.

Kris Franklin ran us through a drill which required us to analyze two (actual) students' exam answers, then discuss how to best help each student.  For this part, I passed out four-color pens, and explained the Dan Wilson (see tribute to Dan by his Denver students) method of helping students analyze their own answers.  Kris provided a typed transcript of her detailed voice recording commentary that she delivered to the student (a method which provides the opportunity to offer detailed, lengthy and – one would hope – more helpful advice to struggling students).

Note to workshop participants: consider writing a short version of your impressions of what went on during the workshop, and I'll post them here.  Send them as an attachment.  (djt)

The Academic Support Spotlight Shines Again!

Daniel Dropko
Academic Excellence Program Manager
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Born in Vermilion, Ohio in 1947, Dan is a child of the postwar culture of the 50's and 60's.  He began his professional life as a broadcaster for a National Public Radio affiliate in Champagne, Illinois, (okay, Champaign) where he had earned a bachelor's degree in Music History. 

Subsequently, Dan acquired a Masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language and worked as a Lecturer in ESL at the University of Florida and as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. 

He graduated from the University of Florida College of Law in 1988, and worked for 13 years as an Assistant Public Defender in Jacksonville, Florida.  Since 2004 he has been the Manager of the Academic Excellence Program at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Dan maintains an active interest in music and teaching and upon request will teach you how to fold an origami paper crane. (djt)

Welcome to Mario

Mario W. Mainero
Director, Academic Success Program
Whittier Law School

And now ... Contributing Editor to this Academic Support Blog.

We are pleased to welcome Mario as a Contributing Editor to this active blog site.  Those of you who have met Mario at Academic Support gatherings across the country over the past few years are aware that he brings a unique set of talents, experience and perspective to the profession.  His insight, his exuberance and his zeal will add quite a bit to the readers' enlightenment and, I'm hoping, entertainment.

Perspective and entertainment?  You bet.  Mario, a singing mathematician, once sang the National Anthem on “Gene Autry Day” at Anaheim Stadium, home of Major League Baseball’s Angels.

Professor Mainero joined Whittier Law School as its first Director of the Academic Success Program in August 2001, after practicing for 21 years in Orange County, California, in the areas of commercial and probate litigation. He also served for 5 years as a Judge pro tem in Orange County Municipal Court, hearing small claims and traffic cases.  Although we value his vocal and numerical talents, this (the practice) is the perspective that makes Mario a superior Academic Support professional.

Since joining the faculty at Whittier Law School, he has developed an Academic Support Program that includes a two-week Summer Program for at-risk incoming admittees, a program for all first-year law students that includes both large-group lectures and small group weekly sessions to teach note-taking, outlining, study and exam-writing skills, one-on-one weekly meetings with students in academic difficulty, and a full-year Early Bar Preparation Program that addresses all subjects and examination styles on the California Bar Exam, and includes a three-day Simulated Bar Exam administered during Spring Break.

Mario and his wife, Denise, live in Corona del Mar, California, with their two children, Christina, 16, and Anthony, 13, and their two dogs, “Belle” and “Electra.” 

Watch for more posts by Mario Mainero.  (djt)

Academic Support Spotlight

University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law recently announced the appointment of Joginder ("Joe") S. Dhillon as Director of Academic Support and Lecturer in Law. Professor Dhillon served as an Air Force officer for 20 years, including tours as the Legal Advisor to the U.S. Space Command/North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado and as Deputy Chief, Military Personnel Branch, Air Force Litigation Division in Washington, D.C.

Professor Dhillon also served as an Assistant Professor of Law at the U.S. Air Force Academy for three years. More recently, he has acted as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton on homeland security issues and as an Associate/Shareholder with Schuering Zimmerman Scully, LLP in Sacramento, California.

Professor Dhillon was a member of the Harvard Environmental Law Review in 1987 and received his LL.M. in Intellectual Property in 1999.

Welcome, Joe, to the wonderful world of Academic Support! (djt)

In The Spotlight: Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus

Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus is the Director of Academic Development and an Assistant Professor of Legal Methods at Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in Huntington, New York. 

Previously, she was an associate at a public sector labor law firm.

As Director of Academic Development since Fall 2003, Suzanne has coordinated all aspects of Touro’s Academic Development programs, which span the entire length of the legal educational process, from orientation to bar examination preparation and counseling. She is responsible for training and supervising teaching assistants, working with students on an individual basis, conducting skills training workshops, developing appropriate student work materials, coordinating bar-preparation programs, and implementing new services relevant to enhancing its students’ academic experience and performance. 

Before attending law school, Suzanne was a promotional and technical writer in the software, electronic, and medical device manufacturing  industries.  She believes her background in business and technology and her years in the workplace have helped to bring perspective, understanding, and appreciation to the study of law.   

Suzanne has published in the areas of contracts, labor law, the Fourth Amendment’s Exclusionary Rule, and federal preemption of state tort law as it relates to government regulation of medical devices. 

In the area of academic support and bar exam preparation, she has published Incorporating Bar Pass Strategies into Routine Teaching Practices in the Gonzaga Law Review, authored THE BAR EXAM IN A NUTSHELL for West Publications and is working on another publication for West entitled Mastering the Law School Exam, scheduled for publication in 2006.

In Fall 2004, her article, "A Response to the Society of American Law Teachers' Statement on the Bar Exam" was published in the Journal of Legal Education.  The National Conference of Bar Examiners adapted the article for publication in the May 2005 issue of The Bar Examiner. 

In the Academic Support Sporlight: Michael Hunter Schwartz

(You may have read about the recent publication of Expert Learning for Law Students by Carolina Academic Press and ordered your own copy.  You'll find the following biography of the author of interest.  els)

Professor Michael Hunter Schwartz is a Professor of Law and the Director of Ex-L at Charleston School of Law, the academic support program at Charleston.  Between 1991 and 2005, he taught at Western State University College of Law.  For the first eight years of his career at Western State, Professor Schwartz was a doctrinal professor, teaching contracts, remedies and insurance law.

In 1999, Professor Schwartz decided to follow his passion and begged his way into the directorship of Western State’s academic support programs.  Professor Schwartz overhauled Western State’s academic support programs, creating seven distinct programs focusing on student law school achievement and bar pass, lowering Western State’s academic attrition rate by 81% while increasing its first- time bar pass rate by 44%.

Professor Schwartz is the author of Expert Learning for Law Students (Carolina Academic Press 2005), a text designed to teach self-regulated learning skills and law school learning strategies to entering law students as part of law school’s introductory programs, academic support programs and academic probation programs.

 

In writing the book, which was his sabbatical project a few years ago, Professor Schwartz conducted an exhaustive review of research in the education field.  The book is accompanied by a workbook that includes exercises and reflection questions and a teacher’s manual that includes, among other things, the background educational research, answers to the exercises, detailed syllabi, instructional objectives, quizzes, a set of cases (with commentary and questions similar to what students will encounter in their law school texts) and briefs of all the cases. 

Professor Schwartz currently is in the process of co-authoring (with Professor Denise Riebe, who teaches at Duke University School of Law and University of North Carolina School of Law) a new text, Pass The Bar!.   The authors, who met as a result of exchanging ideas on the ASP listserv, expect to complete Pass The Bar! this fall. The text, which also will be published by Carolina Academic Press, has been designed to be used by academic support professionals in law school bar pass programs.

They designed the text to be used in stand-alone bar pass courses or as a supplemental text for upper-division bar-tested courses so that faculty can integrate bar study principles into such classes, using the bar study principles to teach the doctrine and the doctrine to teach the bar study principles.  The authors also believe that students will be able to use the book on their own for self-study.  The book demystifies the bar preparation and bar exam process. To help students reflectively plan their bar study, adopt bar study practices that maximize their chances of passing the bar exam, and manage their stress and time during the bar study and bar exam process, the book includes dozens of exercises and practice bar exam questions.  Pass The Bar! will be accompanied by a teacher’s manual that will provide background research, classroom exercises, model answers, syllabi and instructional objectives.

Professor Schwartz also has written two law review articles and three shorter works relating to law teaching and learning and two other law review articles that address doctrinally-related matters: the defects in arbitration as a form of dispute resolution and power as a legal construct.

He has delivered presentations on law teaching and learning subjects at Institute for Law School Teaching, Legal Writing Directors’ and CALI Conferences and as an invited speaker to the faculties at Hastings College of the Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, Albany Law School, UDC Law School, the John Marshall Law School, Southern New England School of Law and John Marshall Law School in Atlanta.

He also is on the Steering Committee of and is a contributor to CLEA’s “Best Practices of Law Schools for Preparing Students to Practice Law” Project/White Paper and is on the Board of Directors of the Humanizing Legal Education Movement.

Professor Schwartz is married to the person he says he most admires and likes in the world and has two daughters, ages 9 and 12, whom he describes as wonderful.  His major hobby is spending time with his wife and daughters; to that end, he has volunteered his time in his daughters’ elementary school classes and to their musical theatre production group.

In the Academic Support Spotlight

Laurie Zimet
Director, Academic Support Program
University of California
Hastings College of the Law
California's First Law School

Laurie Zimet is a recognized expert in academic support and diverse teaching methods. She has planned and presented workshops at national conferences sponsored by the AALS, LSAC, Institute for Law School Teaching, SALT, and numerous law schools. One of these presentations inspired the collaboratively written article, "Inclusive Teaching Methods Across the Curriculum: Academic Resource and Law Teachers Tie a Knot at the AALS," 31 U.S.F.L.R. 875 (1997). Since 1999, she has made annual plenary presentations on learning theory at the AALS New Law Teachers Conference. She sits on the Advisory Committee for the Institute for Law School Teaching and is a founding member of the Academic Support sections of the AALS and SALT.

With two colleagues and grants from the Institute for Law School Teaching, Laurie created videotapes on teaching and learning. The videotapes are part of two faculty-training kits that have been purchased by over 170 law schools and individuals.  In "Teach to the Whole Class: Barriers and Pathways to Learning,” students discuss factors that enhance and impede their learning.  The second video, "Principles for Enhancing Legal Education," addresses essential principles involved in good teaching.  The videos have been showcased at conferences and faculty colloquia across the country.

At Hastings, Laurie Zimet runs one of the largest academic support programs in the country.  Prior to Hastings, she directed the Academic Success Program at Santa Clara University School of Law for eight years.  Prior to Santa Clara, she taught Legal Writing and Research at Hastings.  In addition, she has taught law courses at Mills College and served as an advisor for the school’s interdisciplinary law major.

Laurie has lectured on legal writing and litigation related topics for the Practising Law Institute, Chevron, and the Federal Deposit Corporation.  Subjects of her articles range from using paralegals in pre-trial litigation to the constitutional right of privacy in discovery.  Her co-authored chapter on civil liability for rape appeared in Women and the Law, which was selected Best Law Book by the Association of American Publishers.

She received her B.S., summa cum laude, from State University College at Buffalo with a double major in social work and criminal justice. She graduated from Hastings and practiced in the area of civil litigation, emphasizing third party liability.  (djt)

In the Academic Support Spotlight

Corinne Morrissey
Director, Academic Achievement Program
The John Marshall Law School, Chicago

B.A. Swarthmore College
J.D. Loyola University School of Law

Corinne has been a member of the Academic Support Community for sixteen years!  She has much to offer those of us who are (actual or relative) newcomers.  When you are perplexed about how to handle an academic support situation at your law school, bounce your ideas off Corinne Morrisey.  (djt)

Corinne Morrissey knows something about transitioning to a new profession, as many of her students are doing.  Morrissey was an administrative assistant in the litigation department at Baker & McKenzie before enrolling in law school.  “I was very familiar with cases and case law because of the work I did,” she says, “so I decided to earn a law degree.”

As an evening student, Morrissey continued her work at the law firm, and was hired by the firm after she passed the bar.  She worked for Baker & McKenzie until 1989 when she transitioned again as the academic support person at The John Marshall Law School.  She was the first person to hold this full-time position and created a network of services to assist students struggling with their adjustments to law school.

Today Morrissey heads the Academic Achievement Program which provides advice and resources as the situation warrants. Its primary efforts are directed to helping students: 1) Transition from undergraduate school or the workplace to the rigors of law school; 2) Meet the challenging experiences of law school; 3) Transition from law school to preparation for the bar exam and the workplace. 

Drawing on her experience grading bar exams, Morrissey has worked with students to prepare for the bar.  She created and wrote the Writing for the Practice of Law course. She organizes workshops on such topics as outlining and lectures on bar exam essay questions.  She also sets practice times for students to take the Multistate Bar Examination, and she brings in speakers to help make students aware of the challenges the exam may present.

“The bar exam can be a very scary thing.  We work with our students to help get them ready for those two days so that they aren’t traumatized by it,” Morrissey said.  “Yes, the bar exam is a lot of work, but we believe that our efforts of working with students from their first semester through their last semester helps them realize that perseverance is important, and success is possible.”

Outside of John Marshall, Morrissey provides pro bono legal services through Chicago Volunteer Legal Services.  She and her husband, Frank, enjoy traveling in their free time.

In the Academic Support Spotlight

Vinita Bali
Director, Academic Success Program
Santa Clara University School of Law

J.D. Santa Clara University School of Law

Although Vinita Bali refers to herself as a "fledgling in the academic support arena," after three years she seems to have come a long way.  Have you met Vinita at one of our Academic Support gatherings?  She offers the community this third-person biographical sketch (djt) . . .

Vinita joined the faculty of Santa Clara University School of Law in August 2002 as the Director of the Academic Success Program.  Now in her third year directing the program, Vinita feels that she has developed and grown tremendously, but knows that the learning and growth have just begun. 

The opportunity to empower individuals through education goes to the heart of her personal commitment, and she describes her work as "the most invigorating and fulfilling" that she has engaged in.  Considering that she has had extensive experience in the legal field, encompassing representing disabled individuals in administrative courts for several years, practicing as a business litigator, and most recently as a transactional lawyer, the statement speaks volumes to the work engaged in by the numerous Academic Support professionals in the legal education community.  “The ASP community gives tirelessly of itself with tremendous heart and caring.  Despite the responsibilities ASP professionals carry within their own school communities, they unhesitatingly offer their support and wisdom to others in the field,”  Vinita says.  What makes Vinita’s experience in her work even more rewarding is the congenial and collaborative environment fostered and cultivated by both the students and the faculty at Santa Clara law school.  She often describes this as the greatest asset of the law school, tapping into this enormous resource and incorporating it into the structure of the Academic Success Program at Santa Clara. 

Recognizing that she is a fledgling in the academic support arena, Vinita has actively sought the advice of other professionals, attended conferences, and read extensively in the field.  She has learned tremendously by visiting other programs, finding that observing selected components of programs that have caught her attention have offered her a “fast track” opportunity to learn.  She sees herself as a person who takes her time to observe and learn, but who “moves with tremendous energy and enthusiasm when a truly worthy idea presents itself.”  She sees the issues of her students at a more personal level as well, having recently returned to law school to obtain an LLM degree.

Vinita’s commitment to her law school and to her community are apparent in her extra curricular involvements.  She serves on three Boards of Directors: the non-profit group HOPE Services, the Santa Clara County Women Lawyers' Committee, and non-profit Attorneys Helping Education and Development.  Vinita also is an active member of the Board of Santa Clara University School of Law Alumni Association, and the Legal Studies Steering Committee Advisory Board of the East Side Union High School District.

When not busy with her work at Santa Clara, with her 14 year old daughter, in her of-counsel position as a transactional lawyer, or with her Board involvements, Vinita can be found rock climbing at beautiful Yosemite, off the beaches in Thailand, or in the deserts at Moab (see photo, left - can you find Vinita?) or Joshua Tree.  She describes this avocation as her “true passion, and a complete release from every worry in the word.”  That is, not considering the worry inherent in this dangerous sport, of course.  (Editor's note: I found rock climbing on the same "dangerous sport" web page as "bull running." djt)

In the Academic Support Spotlight

Kris Franklin
Associate Professor of Law
Director of the Academic Skills Program
New York Law School
J.D., NYU School of Law, 1992
B.A., Yale University, 1989
NYU Rev. of Law & Soc. Change, Editor-in-Chief

Professor Franklin joined the New York Law School faculty in 2002.  She describes her position as "...leading a team of New York Law School faculty dedicated to teaching sophisticated legal reasoning skills to all entering law students, and to providing direct intervention to students who struggle after their first semester of law school."

Prior to joining the NYLS faculty she taught for six years in the Lawyering program at NYU School of Law, where she participated in a study group investigating adult learning theory and legal pedagogy, and experimenting with methods for methods for teaching skills to beginning law students.

Before beginning teaching, Kris spent four years as a staff attorney with the Brooklyn Office of the Legal Aid Society. In her practice Kris focused primarily on housing and family law, but also covering public benefits and immigration cases.  She conducted numerous trials, hearings, and appellate arguments. Kris continues to take on pro bono cases in her spare time, and frequently engages in direct action activism around such issues as bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender rights, reproductive freedom, opposition to the death penalty, support for services to the poor, and preservation of community gardens.

Relatively new to the academic support field, Kris has tried to learn as much as possible from those who have been at it for a while.  In addition to attending conferences and reading published ASP literature, Kris has regularly brought experienced academic support professionals together in her semi-annual New York Area Academic Support Workshops.  She currently serves on the Board of the AALS Section on Academic Support.

Long a non-conformist and an activist in the political realm, Kris Franklin brings a talent for creative and unconventional thinking to her teaching of legal analysis and to her leadership of the Academic Skills Program. "I've always felt the traditional law school curriculum, and the traditional ways of teaching law, leave both the students and the clients underserved," Kris says. "The standard approach can be quite narrow, and it doesn't necessarily train people to be good, thoughtful, effective attorneys.  There have to be better ways to reach and teach a far greater range of students.  If we can develop them, we can not only help more students, but perhaps better understand and strengthen the foundations of legal education for everyone."

Kris's scholarship focuses on rhetorical analysis in law, with her published works, both academic and non-academic, also mirroring her political interests in gender roles, diverse family structures, and sexual identity.  Her most recent article explores the necessity of theoretical skills for students learning legal reasoning.

Kris designs and builds furniture in her spare time.  At any given moment at least some small portion of her attention is probably devoted to power tools.  (Photo by John Halpern)

(djt)

Academic Support Spotlight

This could be you!

The Academic Support Spotlight is searching for another ASP-er to illuminate.  Please share your bio and photo with our ASP community by sending me something along the lines of what you see (below and in the archives) from Kristen, Mario, and Charlotte.  Goal: by the time we assemble in Las Vegas in June, we will all know a bit more about each other. 

Click here to send me an e-mail.  (djt)

In the Academic Support Spotlight

Mario W. Mainero
Director, Academic Success Program
Whittier Law School

J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, University of New Mexico, 1980
M.A., Political Science (American Government and Research Methodology and Statistics), University of New Mexico, 1977
B.A, Political Science, Claremont McKenna College, 1975

Mario Mainero joined Whittier Law School as its first Director of the Academic Success Program in August 2001, after practicing for 21 years in Orange County, California, in the areas of commercial and probate litigation. He also served for 5 years as a Judge pro tem in Orange County Municipal Court, hearing small claims and traffic cases.

Since joining the faculty at Whittier Law School, he has developed an Academic Support Program that includes a two-week Summer Program for at-risk incoming admittees, a program for all first-year law students that includes both large-group lectures and small group weekly sessions to teach note-taking, outlining, study and exam-writing skills, one-on-one weekly meetings with students in academic difficulty, and a full-year Early Bar Preparation Program that addresses all subjects and examination styles on the California Bar Exam, and includes a three-day Simulated Bar Exam administered during Spring Break.

Mario was a panel member at the LSAC Academic Assistance Workshop on bar passage in Ft. Worth in 2003, presented a talk on statistical trends in bar passage, LSAT scores, and law school GPA’s at the AALS Annual Meeting this past January in San Francisco, and will be a member of a panel on Program Models at this year’s upcoming LSAC Academic Assistance Workshop in Las Vegas. Mario also contributed several “tips” to Dennis Tonsing’s seminal work, 1000 Days to the Bar - But the Practice of Law Begins Now.

Mario and his wife, Denise, live in Corona del Mar, California, with their two children, Christina, 16, and Anthony, 13, and their two dogs, “Belle” and “Electra.” Mario and Denise have been long-time active supporters of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis. While St. Jude’s founder Danny Thomas was still alive, Mario, Denise, and Denise’s family sponsored an annual fundraiser for St. Jude’s in Los Angeles, and now continue to sponsor an annual fundraiser in Orange County. In addition, Mario and Denise are politically active, and had the opportunity to attend the inauguration of President Bush this past January, where Mario was able to chat with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Congressional Leadership Inaugural Ball.

Mario enjoys advanced mathematics and singing, and sang in his local Catholic Church’s Contemporary Choir for 15 years. In 1981, Mario sang the National Anthem on “Gene Autry Day” at Anaheim Stadium, home of Major League Baseball’s Angels.

“I have been truly blessed," Professor Mainero explains, "to have the opportunity to give back to the profession of law this way. I have found that by treating students with respect, as adults and individuals, by focusing on what their individual strengths and weaknesses are, and by expecting their personal best from them, and by not assuming anything about them or labeling them merely based on being a part of a group, I have had success in getting them to reach inside and achieve their personal best. All the lectures in the world about skills cannot take the place of expressing a personal faith and belief in the student, and letting them know exactly what you expect and how they can take personal responsibility for meeting those expectations.”

In the Academic Support Spotlight

Charlotte D. Taylor
Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs
and Student Support Services
DePaul University College of Law

J.D., DePaul University College of Law, 1996
B.S., Business Management and Administration, Bradley University 1992

Assistant Dean Taylor joined DePaul University College of Law in 1997 as the Assistant Director of Academic Support after practicing in the area of insurance defense.  She worked in academic support for three years, specifically helping students in academic jeopardy.  During this time she co-authored a book with then Assistant Dean and Director of Academic Support, Ruta Stropus, entitled Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies for Success (Carolina Academic Press May 2001) for use by academic support professionals and pre-law and first year law students.   

In 2000, the College of Law created the position of Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs and appointed her to that position.  As Assistant Dean, Charlotte counseled and mentored minority students and assisted minority student organizations with programming and outreach to alumni.  In 2004, "Student Support Services" was added to her title to emphasize the counseling and mentoring nature of her work with all law students.

Charlotte has presented at several conferences for law professors in the areas of academic support and minority affairs and published two articles on the website www.prelawcommentator.com for pre-law students.  She has been very active as an Executive Board member of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Pre-Legal Education and Admission to Law School since 2000, serving as treasurer, secretary, chair-elect and chair.  She also currently serves as the co-chair of the planning committee for the 2005 National Law School Admission Council Academic Assistance Training Workshop.  She also gives back to the community through work with her sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Tau Psi Zeta chapter (Alsip, Illinois).  On a personal note, Charlotte is very involved in the self-management of her co-op and enjoys reading and writing poetry.

In Charlotte Taylor's own words: “In terms of career planning, a dear friend told me to find the person in the job (or similar job) that I wanted and to take a look at his or her resume.  She said I should mirror my resume after his or hers.  To a certain extent, I think that there is a given path to various jobs and careers, and this advice holds true for most.  However, I also think that it is important to take advantage of every opportunity presented because you never know where it will lead.”  (djt)

"The Learning Curve"

The Newsletter of the Academic Support Section of AALS

...is The Learning Curve, expertly edited by Natt Gantt, Assistant Professor and Director of Regent University School of Law's Academic Success Program.

Packed with information and resource material, each issue deserves our attention.  Thanks, Natt, for continuing a job well done for many years by Southwestern University's Paul Bateman.

Would you like to contribute to The Learning Curve?  Natt is soliciting articles right now!  Contact him for details: nattgan@regent.edu.

(djt)