Law School Gains Membership in National Legal Education Consortium

RegentUniversity School of Law continues to advance its commitment tostudent-centered learning.

Theschool was recently granted membership in EducatingTomorrow’s Lawyers (ETL), a selective consortium of 24 law schools underthe auspices of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System(IAALS). ETL’s goal is to facilitate and encourage best practices in legaleducation in order to train new lawyers to the highest standards of competenceand professionalism.

Inorder to be considered for membership in ETL, a law school must undergo athorough assessment and meet a number of criteria including a demonstrated commitment to the legaleducation reforms outlined in the Carnegie Foundation’s groundbreaking 2007 report, EducatingLawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law.
ProfessorBen Madison, who was elected a fellow of the ETL consortium, observes how theconsortium offers for the first time prospective law students concreteinformation on the quality of the legal education they will receive. 

“A law student should recognize the consortium as an independent source thatwill confirm whether the school actually prepares students for law practice—notjust by teaching legal concepts, but also by training students in the skills oflawyering and in developing an ethical framework so that they can be trueprofessionals,” Madison said.

The Carnegie report found that most law schools were deficient in “teachingstudents how to use legal thinking in the complexity of actual law practice”and were failing to “complement the focus on skill in legalanalyses with effective support for developing ethical and social skills.”

ETLconsortium member schools, which include USC, Stanford, Washington & Lee,Vanderbilt, Cornell, Georgetown, and others, utilize the Carnegie model oflegal education to innovate legal education across three “value sets”:knowledge, practice, and professionalism. The goal is to develop lawyers withexcellent advocacy skills, with an understanding of the nature and purpose ofthe legal profession, and who are committed to the ethical practice of law.
"Weare very excited to be accepted to the ETL consortium and look forward to collaboratingwith others in the legal academy who are at the forefront of importantinnovations in legal education,” said Associate Dean for Student Affairs NattGantt. “We are also looking forward to sharing the Carnegie-related innovationswe continue to implement at Regent, in particular our work in developingstudents’ professional identities.”
Regent’s ongoing commitment tothe principles explored in Educating Lawyers continues to yield results inthe form of exceptional metrics on the Law School Survey ofStudent Engagement, particularly in regards to ethical andprofessional formation.
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