Professor Robin Boyle is publishing her forthcoming article, Merging the Bench, Bar, and Law Schools:  How a Student Scholars Program Achieves Professional Identity Through Scholarly Writing, Mentorship, and Presentation, in the UMKC Law Review, vol. 93(1) (forthcoming Aug. 2024).  The article highlights a co-curricular program that gives students a platform to share their scholarly work while engaging the bench and the bar. Professor Boyle co-authored the article with Professor Joan Foley (Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center) and with Troy Kessler, Esq., President of the Federal Bar Association’s EDNY Chapter. An abstract of the article follows.

Legal education is transforming.  The American Bar Association’s Standards for Legal Education now require law schools to provide students with substantial opportunities for the development of professional identities.  These opportunities are in addition to requirements that law schools provide an education that results in student competencies in oral and written communication.  As the professional identities requirement is changing law school curricula,  the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in the practice of law resulting in an emphasis on remote advocacy and presentation skills.  This article explains the design and implementation of an innovative co-curricular program that addresses the new educational standard and the realities of today’s practice of law.  The program, known as the Student Scholars Program, aids law schools in meeting accreditation standards and the needs of a changing profession.  In doing so, this article analyzes the new accreditation standard in student development and learning outcomes, addresses the benefits of mentoring to students and the profession, reflects on the experiences of the Program’s designers and stakeholders, and provides concrete strategies for law schools to create their own Student Scholars Program.