Duke Law School students and graduates increasingly seek careers in academia. In recognition of this fact, the Law School has put in place a number of programs aimed at current students, including a student scholarship colloquium and spaces for interested students at faculty workshops.
The School also offers assistance to Duke alumni seeking to enter the law school teaching market. It has created an Academic Careers Committee that offers candidates practice job talks, helps schedule them for workshops at other schools, organizes faculty recommendations, and centralizes the Law School's marketing of the candidate to other schools. The giving of advice is not limited to members of the committee, other members of the faculty also provide advice to applicants. The committee also is available as an organized resource that helps to make sure that applicants receive the guidance they need.
In addition, the School encourages Duke Law alumni to apply to our Visiting Assistant Professor program. For graduates of any law school who plan a career in legal academia but who have not yet entered the teaching market, we have established a program to bring aspiring law teachers into the Law School as visiting assistant professors. Visiting assistant professors spend two academic years at the Law School, giving them time to work on scholarship in anticipation of their entry on the law school teaching market. Each visiting assistant professor is provided with an office and is invited to participate in faculty activities open to visiting professors. Each has a very light teaching load - one course per year. Selection for participation in this program is competitive, based on potential for success in an academic career.
Visiting Assistant Professors
The Visiting Assistant Professorship Program at Duke Law School supports aspiring law faculty. Visiting assistant professors are in residence at the Law School for two academic years, with the expectation that they will enter the law school teaching market in the fall of their second year. A visiting assistant professor is provided with a regular faculty office and receives administrative and secretarial support. He or she teaches one course per academic year (or two courses if he or she prefers two) and has no administrative responsibilities. Each visiting assistant professor is invited to participate in all faculty activities open to visiting professors, including faculty workshops and conferences. In addition, each visiting assistant professor will have at least one opportunity to present a paper in the faculty workshop series and helps lead student early stages workshops.
Compensation
The salary for each visiting assistant professor is $50,000 in the first year and $55,000 in the second year plus benefits (including health insurance).
The Selection Process
We invite applications from graduates of any law school and any year of graduation. We encourage applications from those with experience in law practice. Candidates will be selected based on their potential to obtain a tenure-track position at a leading law school.
Applications should include:
- a curriculum vita
- a law school transcript
- written academic references emailed from each reference directly to vapprogram@law.duke.edu
- copies of any scholarly legal articles that the candidate has written and would like to have considered, whether published, unpublished, or in draft form
- a list of law school courses the candidate would be willing to teach (listed in order of preference)
- a scholarly agenda outline, with particular emphasis on the scholarship contemplated during the professorship period.
If you would like to be considered for a visiting assistant professor position beginning in the fall of 2013, please send your complete application materials via email to vapprogram@law.duke.edu by January 7, 2013. We will begin reviewing the applications shortly thereafter.
Please direct any questions to vapprogram@law.duke.edu.
Law School Teaching Guide
The Law School's Academic Careers Committee offers alumni practice job talks, helps schedule them for workshops at other schools, organizes faculty recommenders, and centralizes the Law School's marketing of the candidate to other schools. The giving of advice is not limited to members of the committee: Other faculty provide advice to applicants (and applicants have discussions with their references on the faculty), but the committee is available as a resource and helps to make sure that applicants receive the advice they need. The contact address for the committee is: vapprograms@law.duke.edu.
In addition to this personalized guidance, there are a number of websites that offer general advice to prospective legal academics about the law teaching market. They include: