(Program to be published in Touro Law School Review)
One or more additional presenters will be selected from a call for papers.
As noted in the Carnegie Institute’s Educating Lawyers, law schools play an integral role in the development of our students’ values and interpretations of the legal world, as well as their understanding of their roles and responsibilities as lawyers and how their professional success is to be defined and evaluated. Research has demonstrated losses of intrinsic valuing, altruism, and well-being among law students. As such, it is troubling that engaging law students directly in conversations about their sense of self, their values, and their future careers is not part of the typical law school curriculum.
This year’s program will address these concerns by highlighting collaborative efforts (among faculty, students, and administrators) and student initiatives which succeeded in enhancing student professional identity and overall well-being. Attendees will learn about a number of successful programs, including credit-bearing courses, offerings in professional identity and contemplative practice, extracurricular activities, and innovative student-led initiatives. A variety of student and faculty speakers, some paired by program, will share their experiences with these emerging programs designed to strengthen student integrity and values, enhance professional development, increase well-being and engagement, and promote more satisfying and successful lives as lawyers.