Academic Career Support
Rebecca Rich '06, Assistant Director of Legal Writing and Senior Lecturing Fellow, leads her class discussion.
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 Workshop Series 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 a Law Teaching Committee that offers candidates feedback on research agendas, comments on job talk papers, and practice job talks.
In addition, the School encourages Duke Law alumni to apply to our Visiting Assistant Professor Program. Visiting assistant professors spend two to three 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.
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:
- Becoming a Law Professor, Law/Crossing
- Faculty Appointment Services for Entry-Level Candidates, AALS
- Law Teaching 101, Columbia Law
- The Mechanics of the Academic Job Market in Law, U Chicago Law