Most Important Skills for a Clinical Professor of Law at LMU Loyola Law School
A law degree is fundamental for a Clinical Professor of Law position, but significant writing and research experience during law school is crucial, along with a federal judicial clerkship, which "really does" help. For clinical professorships, extensive practical experience—Amy's own 10 years at a large firm is highlighted—is invaluable, allowing one to bring "practice experience and be able to bring that to the students".
Legal Research, Legal Writing, Federal Judicial Clerkship, Law Degree, Work Experience
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Amy Levin
Clinical Professor of Law
LMU Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
University of California, Berkeley 1994
University of California, Los Angeles JD/MSW
Psychology
Education, Law
Education
Honors Student
Video Highlights
1. To become a law professor, a law degree is essential. Practical experience, such as a federal judicial clerkship, is highly valued and can significantly improve your chances of being hired.
2. For tenure-track positions focusing on research and teaching core law subjects (like civil procedure or contracts), publishing scholarly articles is crucial to build a strong academic profile.
3. Clinical professorships, which involve teaching and supervising students in practical legal settings, typically require substantial prior work experience (at least five years) to effectively guide students and provide realistic insights from practice.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours: writing and research?
For professors, there are a few requirements. First, you need a law degree to have my job, because law professors have law degrees. Interestingly, we don't necessarily have education or teaching experience, but we all have law degrees.
While in law school, a few things are important. Number one, get as much writing and research experience as possible. Number two, if you want to be a law professor, it's beneficial to try to get a federal judicial clerkship after graduation. It definitely gives you an advantage.
While not absolutely required, I can say from experience on hiring committees that it's sometimes essential, and other times it's truly value-added. It also depends on the track you're pursuing. If you're aiming for a tenure track and want to be a research professor teaching subjects like civil procedure, contracts, or torts, you need to write and have a repertoire of published articles before going on the market.
If you want to be a clinical professor, like myself, you really need work experience. The committees I've served on typically look for at least five years of experience before returning to teach. This is certainly true if you're doing a live client clinic, where you need extensive work experience.
You supervise students in a particular area of law. To teach legal research and writing, it makes a huge difference to have practice experience and be able to share that with students, explaining what they can expect. I had 10 years of practice experience at a large international law firm before entering the teaching market. This will be my 13th year teaching.
Among my colleagues, every single one had teaching experience, and most had clerkships before getting their teaching jobs.