The UMKC Law Review Presents

CALL FOR PAPERS
Professional Identity in Legal Education

The UMKC Law Review is pleased to announce a call for papers relating to the development of law student formation of their identities as members of a profession.  Selected papers will be published in the Special Topics Symposium Fall 2020 edition of the UMKC Law Review.

This symposium invites proposals for papers exploring how to foster and nurture professional identities in a changing landscape in legal education, in client service, and in our quest for access to justice. Several large scale, social science-based studies, starting with the Carnegie Foundation study, Educating Lawyers(2007), have teased out an array of competencies that lawyers require in order to be effective in practice, for their clients, and for the system of justice.[1] Most notably, the studies show that traditional legal education’s near laser focus on imparting legal knowledge, plus analytical and writing skills are not enough. The skills and competencies identified in these studies are far more complex and varied. These are the competencies that are core to the professional identity formation of law students. Recognizing this, law schools are adapting their curriculum. The Law School Admissions Council and National Conference of Bar Examiners are wrestling with the prospect of adapting their high-stakes examinations.

In this symposium issue, UMKC Law Review editors seek works that explore how to incorporate into the curriculum and to teach the lawyering effectiveness factors identified in these studies. We encourage faculty who teach in a variety of settings, from classroom, to clinic, to field placements and elsewhere to contribute curriculum and course design pieces.

Issue 3 of UMKC Law Review’s 89^th volume will explore these and related topics with the goal of advancing law student professional identity.  Articles and essays of all lengths and papers by single authors or multiple authors are invited.  Preference will be given to works between 5,000 and 10,000 words.  To be accepted for publication in UMKC Law Review, articles must not have been previously published.  Papers are due June 1, 2020.

Proposals for papers should be submitted by May 1, 2020 to the attention of Bobby French (robert.french@mail.umkc.edu), Trenton Garza (trenton.garza@mail.umkc.edu), Mason Godding (masongodding@gmail.com), and Professor Margaret (Meg) Reuter (reuterm@umkc.edu).  Proposals should include the following information: *Name, title and contact information of author *Title of paper *Anticipated length as an article or essay *Abstract or brief description of the topic

Questions may be addressed to Bobby French (robert.french@mail.umkc.edu), or Mason Godding (masongodding@gmail.com).

[1] William Sullivan, et al, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law (2007). See also Marjorie M. Shultz & Sheldon Zedeck, Identification, Development, and Validation of Predictors for Successful Lawyering. Final Report to LSAC (Sept. 2008), http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/LSACREPORTfinal-12.pdf; Steven S Nettles & James Hellrung, A Study of the Newly Licensed Lawyer, conducted for the National Conference of Bar Examiners (Applied Measurement Professionals, July 2012); Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers, Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, Foundations for Practice (2016), https://iaals.du.edu/projects/foundations-practice.