The Status of Clinical Educators - Today and Beyond
Claudia Angelos, New York University Law School
Elizabeth B. Cooper, Fordham University School of Law
Robert D. Dinerstein, American University, Washington College of Law
Katherine R. Kruse, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law
Robert R. Kuehn, Washington University School of Law
David Anthony Santacroce, The University of Michigan Law School
Ann C. Shalleck, American University, Washington College of Law
Ian S. Weinstein, Fordham University School of Law
This session has two parts. In the first Robert Kuehn and David Santacroce will lead a discussion about what the CSALE data tells us about where clinical education is in terms of demographics and status. Then, in light of this data, the group of clinical educators who have been involved in the current ongoing revision of the Accreditation Standards will generate a discussion of how changes in accreditation present threats to the development of clinical education. The results of the CSALE survey also provide important insights into: overall clinical program designs and operations; the design and methods of live-client clinics; the design and methods of field placement programs; and the characteristics of clinicians teaching in live-client clinics and field placement programs. By understanding the various forms and methods being used, clinicians will be better able to situate their own clinics and programs within the various national approaches and trends. The session also will provide important information about the characteristics, rights, and duties of clinicians at different law schools, allowing attendees to consider the need for changes at their own institutions or the need for changes within the academy as a whole. The session will then highlight critical developments in the ongoing comprehensive review of accreditation standards that could have consequences for the design and methods of clinics, the status of clinical educators who design and teach these programs, and the role of clinical education with the academy. Proposed changes in the basic regulatory framework are critical to the clinical community and to legal education as a whole. This session will provide an opportunity to have a deeper and more far-ranging discussion than is available in other contexts.