College of Law News

Cunningham to Join Distinguished Legal Education Reform Effort

November 20, 2007

Professor Clark Cunningham

Stanford Law School has extended an invitation to College of Law Professor Clark Cunningham to join a distinguished Legal Education Reform Group sponsored by the Stanford Law School and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 
 
The group will prepare and issue a report that has the potential to build on the Carngie Foundation’s 2007 publication, “Educating Lawyers,”  and play a major role in the advancement  of legal education.

Professor Cunningham’s invitation follows on the heels of an Oct. 31 New York Times story on law schools' reaction to the Carnegie Report on Legal Education. The article noted Carnegie’s report, "has galvanized reflection at many law schools," including Stanford Law School, which is hosting a meeting in December of representatives from 10 schools that have designed innovative curriculums, with the goal of forming a group that will continue working on innovative legal education through 2010. 
 
The day after the Times story was published, Professor Cunningham was invited to participate in this meeting by Stanford Law Dean Lawrence Marshall. The group will be made up of three representatives from 10 participating law schools and approximately a dozen leaders in legal education who have written and/or thought about the future of law school curricula and pedagogy. The goal is that the report issued by the reform group will have a deep impact on how law schools educate their students.
 
“Professor Cunningham’s participation as a member of this prestigious group is both an honor for him and for the college,” said COL Dean Steven Kaminshine, “as it gives us a seat at a very distinguished table. This Legal Education Reform Group is expected to make substantial contributions to the training and education of the next law school generation, and we are pleased that a member of our faculty will be included in this initiative.”