Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2024
Journal Title
University of St. Thomas Law Journal
ISSN
2154-6428
Abstract
Under the ABA’s sequenced approach to implementation of Standard 303(b)(3), schools should now have developed plans for providing opportunities for professional identity formation and should be implementing them. These plans must provide students with an “intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.” In addition, these plans should provide for frequent opportunities for development, “during each year of law school and in a variety of courses and co-curricular and professional development activities.”
Because Standard 303(b)(3) is necessarily tied to the unique character, existing
structures, and available resources of a law school, each school’s plan will be different. That has been our experience as we have worked as professional identity formation leaders in different roles with varying perspectives: Lindsey Gustafson at the William H. Bowen School of Law, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is a current Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and a skills and doctrinal professor; Aric Short at the Texas A&M School of Law is a former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, a doctrinal professor, and currently serves as the Director of the Professionalism and Leadership Program; and Robin Thorner at St. Mary’s University School of Law is an Assistant Dean for Career Strategy, a teaching adjunct, and the current Director of Professional Identity Formation. In this essay, we hope to emphasize that professional identity formation efforts can occur all across the law school’s operations, from administrative offices to classrooms to voluntary student activities. We also provide specific examples of how schools can be more intentional and explicit as they weave together multiple professional identity formation opportunities for their students. This process takes time and attention, but it creates a powerful whole-building approach to identity formation that not only complies with 303(b)(3), but best positions our students for a successful, fulfilling, and impactful career in law.
First Page
1027
Last Page
1057
Num Pages
31
Volume Number
20
Issue Number
3
Publisher
University of St. Thomas School of Law
Recommended Citation
Lindsey P. Gustafson, Aric K. Short & Robin Thorner,
Breaking Down Siloes and Building Up Students: The Transformational Possibilities of Professional Identity Formation,
20
U. St. Thomas L.J.
1027
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/2284
File Type
Included in
Legal Education Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, Legal Profession Commons