by Kathleen Elliott Vinson
As law schools grapple with ways to comply with revised American Bar Association (“ABA”) Standard on Legal Education 303, they should consider how leadership courses can satisfy the new requirements. Indeed, there is common ground and connections between Standard 303 and leadership courses as the competencies that are the focus of Standard 303 are also integral to the study of leadership. In February 2022, the ABA approved amendments to Standard 303(b) requiring law schools to “provide substantial opportunitites to students for . . . the development of a professional identity” and to Standard 303(c) to “provide education to law students on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism,” Law Schools must have a plan in place by fall 2022 for how the school plans to comply with revised Standard 303 and have implementation of that plan for incoming 1L’s by the fall of 2023.
Interpretations accompanying the revisions to Standard 303 provide guidance on the meaning of the new requirements. For example, interpretation 303-5 states: “[p]rofessional identity focuses on what it means to be a lawyer and the special obligations lawyers have to their clients and society. The development of professional identity should involve an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.” Interpretation 303-5 acknowledges that it takes time and reflection for students to develop their professional identity and notes that “students should have frequent opportunities for such development during each year of law school and in a variety of courses.” Interpretation 303-7 explains that “[s]tandard 303(c)’s requirement that law schools provide education on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism may be satisfied by. . . [c]ourses incorporating these topics.” This interpretation continues to explain that law schools do not have to add a required upper-level course to satisfy 303(c), but they must require that all law students “participate in a substantial activity designed to reinforce the skill of cultural competency and their obligation as future lawyers to work to eliminate racism in the legal profession.” Interpretation 303-8 notes that “[s]tandard 303 does not prescribe the form or content of the education on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism required by Standard 303(c).” Standard 303(c) requires this education both at the beginning of law school and “at least once again before graduation.”
Leadership pedagogy develops competencies required in revised Standard 303. Leadership development provides substantial and intentional opportunitites for law students to reflect on their individual values and how they may align with their professional values and ethics. In training law students as leaders, students also reflect on how aligning their personal identity with professional identity can lead to increased career satisfaction and lawyer effectiveness. In addition, the study of leadership includes leading change and leading others, such as a lawyer’s role in promoting equal access to justice and discussions of bias and discrimination in the law. Leadership courses incorporate substantial assessments and exercises that reinforce cultural competency skills and a lawyer’s ethical duty to combat racism in the legal profession. Such assessments and exercises include raising awareness of implicit bias and importing the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion and cross-cultural perspectives in leadership. Continuous self-evaluation and reflection are critical components in the development of leadership and professional identity, as well as in the education of diversity, inclusion, and cultural competency. Among the essential components of developing leadership skills in law students includes students’ identification of their values, strengths and weaknesses, resilience, emotional intelligence, implicit bias, well-being, and personality preferences. Further, teaching methodologies in leadership courses include simulations, role-playing, and collaboration, in the context of serving clients and the legal profession, enhancing students’ development of their professional identity and inclusive leadership skills. Thus, leadership courses can lead the way to helping law schools satisfy revised Standard 303 as they not only develop student’s leadership skills, but they also provide students opportunities to develop their professional identity and engage in activities designed to educate them on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism in the legal profession.
For more resources on this topic, see:
Deborah L. Rhode, Leadership for Lawyers (Aspen Publishing, 3rd ed. 2019)
https://www.aspenpublishing.com/Rhode-Leadership3.
Leah Teague, Stephen Rispoli & Liz Fraley, Fundamentals of Lawyer Leadership (Aspen Publishing, 1st ed. 2021)
https://www.aspenpublishing.com/Teague-Leadership.
Mary Walsh Fitzpatrick and Rosemary Queenan, Professional Identity Formation, Leadership and Exploration of Self, 89 UMKC Law Rev. 539, 539 (2021),
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3719354
Leah Teague, Amendments to ABA Standards Support the Objectives of Leadership Development Programming- Part 1, Training Lawyers as Leaders (Mar. 10, 2022), https://traininglawyersasleaders.org/2022/03/10/amendments-to-aba-standards-support-the-objectives-of-leadership-development-programming-part-1/ .
Leah Teague, Amendments to ABA Standards Support the Objectives of Leadership Development Programming- Part 2, Training Lawyers as Leaders (Mar. 15, 2022), https://traininglawyersasleaders.org/2022/03/15/amendments-to-aba-standards-support-the-objectives-of-leadership-development-programming-part-2/.