About This

Key to Images

  • Study Aid - This is a useful resource to introduce or brush up on a new subject specialty.
  • Preeminent Treatise - This is recognized by scholars and practitioners as one of the leading authorities on a specific subject.

Law Teaching & Scholarship Guide

INTRODUCTION

The Georgetown Law Center places its share of graduates in law teaching positions, ranking in the top ten of law schools nationwide during the past several years. To help facilitate future careers in academia among current students and alumni, the Library has created a research guide on the subject of law teaching and scholarship.

This guide is designed to help students and alumni who are considering careers in academia, as well as those who are already making the transition to teaching positions. We have included background resources about the legal academy, as well as resources that deal with the hiring process and diversity issues. New and aspiring law professors can also find sources which discuss different approaches to legal scholarship and teaching, along with advice to new professors on teaching methods and scholarly publications. Finally, we have listed major journals that can be consulted for further research on the subject.

GENERAL/BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON LEGAL ACADEMY

1. Web Resources

2. Journal Articles

  • Gabriel J. Chin & Denise C. Morgan, Breaking into the Academy: The 2002-2004 Michigan Journal of Race & Law Guide for Aspiring Law Professors, 7 Mich. J. Race & L. 457 (2001-2002).

  • Donna Fossum, Law Professors: A Profile Of The Teaching Branch Of The Legal Profession, 1980 Am. B. Found. Res. J. 501 (1980).

  • Alex M. Johnson, Jr., Think Like a Lawyer, Work Like a Machine: The Dissonance between Law School and Law Practice, 64 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1232 (1990-1991).
  • Terrance Sandalow, On Becoming a Law Professor, 1 Mich. J. Race & L. 580 (1996).

  • Kevin H. Smith, How to Become a Law Professor without Really Trying: A Critical, Heuristic, Deconstructionist, and Hermeneutical Exploration of Avoiding the Drudgery Associated with Actually Working as an Attorney, 47 U. Kan. L. Rev. 139 (1998-1999).

HIRING & INTERVIEWING PROCESS

1. Web Resources

2. Journal Articles

  • David W. Case, The Pedagogical Don Quixote de la Mississippi, 33 U. Mem. L. Rev. 529 (2002-2003).

  • James Gordley, Mere Brilliance: The Recruitment of Law Professors in the United States, 41 Am. J. Comp. L. 367 (1993).

  • Richard E. Redding, Where did You go to Law School - Gatekeeping for the Professoriate and Its Implications for Legal Education, 53 J. Legal Educ. 594 (2003).

LAW SCHOOL & FACULTY RANKINGS

1. Web Resources

LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP GENERALLY

1. Journal Articles

  • Mary Beth Beazley and Linda H. Edwards, The Process and the Product: A Bibliography of Scholarship about Legal Scholarship, 49 Mercer L. Rev. 741 (1997-1998).

  • Guyora Binder, Beyond Criticism, 55 U. Chi. L. Rev. 888 (1988).
  • Paul D. Carrington, Of Law and the River, 34 J. Legal Education 222 (1984).
  • Frank B. Cross, Political Science and the New Legal Realism: A Case of Unfortunate Interdisciplinary Ignorance, 92 Nw. U. L. Rev. 251 (1997-1998).

  • Harry T. Edwards, The Growing Disjunction between Legal Education and the Legal Profession, 91 Mich. L. Rev. 34 (1992-1993).
  • Ted Finman, Critical Legal Studies, Professionalism, And Academic-Freedom - Exploring The Tributaries Of Carrington’s River, 35 J. Legal Education 180 (1985).

  • Guido Calabresi, An Introduction to Legal Thought: Four Approaches to Law and to the Allocation of Body Parts, 55 Stan. L. Rev. 2113 (2002-2003).

  • Ronald J. Jr. Krotoszynski, Legal Scholarship at the Crossroads: On Farce, Tragedy, and Redemption, 77 Tex. L. Rev. 321 (1998-1999).
  • Richard A. Posner, Legal Scholarship Today, 45 Stan. L. Rev. 1647 (1992-1993).

  • Richard A. Posner, Legal Scholarship Today, 115 Harv. L. Rev. 1314 (2001-2002).

  • Richard A. Posner, The Present Situation in Legal Scholarship, 90 Yale L.J. 1113 (1980-1981).

  • George L. Priest, Social Science: Theory and Legal Education: The Law School As University, 33 J. Legal Educ. 437 (1983).

  • Alvin B. Rubin, Does Law Matter - A Judges Response To The Critical Legal Studies Movement, 37 J. Leg. Ed. 307 (1987).
  • Roberto Mangabeira Unger, The Critical Legal Studies Movement, 96 Harv. L. Rev. 563 (1983).

TEACHING LAW GENERALLY

1. Journal Articles

  • Gerald F. Hess, Monographs on Teaching and Learning for Legal Educators, 36 Gonz. L. Rev. 63 (2000-2001).
  • William Prosser, Lighthouse No Good, 1 J. Leg. Ed. 257 (1948).

  • Arturo Lopez Torres & Mary Kay Lundwall, Moving beyond Langdell II: An Annotated Bibliography of Current Methods for Law Teaching. 36 Gonz. L. Rev. 1 (2000-2001).

  • E. J. Weinrib, The Teacher, 57 U Toronto L. J. 131 (Spring 2007).

  • Douglas J. Whaley, Teaching Law: Thoughts on Retirement, 68 Ohio St. L.J. 1387 (2007).

LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR NEW PROFESSORS

1. Web Resources

2. Journal Articles

  • R.H. Abrams, Sing Muse: Legal Scholarship for New Law Teachers, 37 J. Legal Educ. 1 (1987).

  • Daniel Keating, A Comprehensive Approach to Orientation and Mentoring for New Faculty, 46 J. Legal Educ. 61 (1996).

  • M.K. Kane, Some Thoughts on Scholarship for Beginning Teachers, 37 J. Legal Educ. 14 (1987).

  • Donald J. Weidner, A Dean's Letter to New Law Faculty About Scholarship, 44 J. Legal Educ. 440 (1994).

3. Books

  • James Hartley, Academic Writing and Publishing: A Practical Handbook (2008), PN146.H373 2008.

TEACHING LAW FOR NEW PROFESSORS

1. Web Resources

2. Journal Articles

  • Susan J. Becker, Advice for the New Law Professor: A View from the Trenches, 42 J. Legal Educ. 432 (1992).
  • Daniel Keating, A Comprehensive Approach to Orientation and Mentoring for New Faculty, 46 J. Legal Educ. 61 (1996).

  • Philip C. Kissam, The Ideology of the Case Method/Final Examination Law School, 70 U. Cin. L. Rev. 137 (2001-2002).

  • Eric L. Muller, A New Teacher’s Guide to Choosing a Casebook, 45 J. Legal Educ. 557 (1995).

  • Douglas K. Newell, Ten Survival Suggestions for Rookie Law Teachers, 33 J. Legal Educ. 693 (1983).

  • Kent D. Syverud, Taking Students Seriously: A Guide for New Law Teachers, 43 J. Legal Educ. 247 (1993).
  • Douglas J. Whaley, Teaching Law: Advice for the New Professor, 43 Ohio St. L.J. 125 (1982).

DIVERSITY IN THE LEGAL ACADEMY

1. Web Resources

2. Journal Articles

  • Marina Angel, The Glass Ceiling for Women in Legal Education: Contract Positions and the Death of Tenure, 50 J. Legal Educ. 1 (2000).

  • Paul M. George & Susan McGlamery, Women and Legal Scholarship: A Bibliography, 77 Iowa L. Rev. 87 (1991-1992).
  • Deborah J. Merritt & Barbara F. Reskin, The Double Minority: Empirical Evidence of a Double Standard in Law School Hiring of Minority Women, 65 S. Cal. L. Rev. 2299 (1992).

  • Deborah Jones Merritt & Barbara F. Reskin, Sex, Race, and Credentials: the Truth about Affirmative Action in Law Faculty Hiring, 97 Colum. L. Rev. 199 (1997).

PERIODICAL TITLES

  • Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors
    St. Paul, Minn.
    West
    K10 .O7365
  • The Law Teacher
    Spokane, WA
    Gonzaga University, Institute for Law School Teaching
    KF262 .L3
  • Newsletter / Association of American Law Schools
    Washington, D.C.
    Association of American Law Schools
    KF263 .A87

 

Page last saved 16-Oct-2009