The Red Velvet Lawyer

A year ago, the woman who served as the 2013 graduating class' valedictorian -- Candice DuVernois -- told me she wanted to create a YouTube video clearly conveying that ASL students read, learn, and apply the same legal precedent law students learn at fancier (more expensive) law schools. Here is a link to the students' video work product, called Appalachian School of Law "Mediate." 

A tunnel, an archway, and the view beyond.   I used these images in a guided meditation with our new 1Ls to help them capture their subconscious dreams for their law school careers and their future as lawyers.   Here's the text I used.  Before launching into it, I took the students through the Getting Vertical M editation  described here .  Again, I want to thank my business coach, Christine Kane, for inspiring this meditation.  Tunnel, Archway, and View Beyond Meditation Inspired by Christine Kane (as remembered by Paula Marie Young) Now imagine yourself at the mouth of a passage-way or tunnel You cannot yet see the end of it But you take a step into it You are entering three stages of your career at law school The first stage represents your first year in law school, where you begin to learn the jargon, and the ways of thinking, and analysis, and begin to develop the professional relationships you will have for the rest o...

As I noted in an earlier posting , we welcomed our incoming 1L students to the school on Friday.  They are really quite wonderful people. I taught two sessions of the Introduction to Law course.  I ended both of the sessions with a guided meditation.  I want to acknowledge that my business coach, Christine Kane, introduced me to this meditation.  I'll post the second one tomorrow. Getting Vertical Meditation By Christine Kane (as modified by Paula Marie Young) Close your eyes Take a deep breath in your own rhythm Take another breath This time see if you can inhale on the count of 4 and slowly exhale on the count of 6, using this Yoga breathing technique to calm the parasympathetic nervous system Continue to breath in this way, and Slowly bring your attention to your tailbone Imagine a cord running from it through the floor to the center of the Earth Imagine it as a gold cord It’s beautiful and radiant And, at the end of it ha...

I can't even remember my first day of law school. I hope that we made the first day far more memorable for our incoming 1Ls.  Our lovely and wonderful new Dean Lucy McGough  greeted them and introduced the faculty and staff. Then Virginia Supreme Court Justice Donald W.  Lemmons , having made the long drive from Richmond, gave a story-filled speech on professionalism that inspired the new students.   Then, students -- dressed in professional attire --stood to take the Oath of Professionalism.  Yes, we quickly begin to admit them to our "tribe." Students "acknowledge[d] the privileges granted by society to the legal profession" and "promise[d] to uphold the highest standards of academic honesty and ethical practice."  They also promised to "embrace civility and professionalism."   They promised to conduct themselves with dignity and respect the dignity of others in both their private and professional lives.  They agreed t...

The Appalachian School of Law is the first, and so far, the only law school founded with a focus on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ASL’s dispute resolution curriculum is unique in several ways. Students get advanced training in negotiation mediation, arbitration, early neutral evaluation, group facilitation, consensus building, and dispute resolution system design. 2L Dispute Resolution  Survey Course First, only nineteen law schools, including ASL, require all their students to take an ADR survey class. The curriculum reflects the realities of lawyering in an era of the so-called  “ Vanishing Trial ."     The course provides students with basic interest-based negotiation skills. It also introduces them to the role of advocate in several ADR processes, especially mediation.    Research shows that ASL students who take only the required survey course have more training in ADR than most practicing attorneys. This training crea...

Over 340 Years of  Private Practice Experience  Among ASL's Faculty It frustrated me to no end when highly-ranked Washington and Lee University School of Law -- to much fanfare -- announced in 2008 their practice-ready curriculum for 3Ls students.  The press release from the school's Dean said: [We] are embarking on a dramatic revision of [the] law school curriculum, entirely reinventing the third year to make it a year of professional development through simulated and actual practice experiences.   This is one of the boldest reforms in American legal education since Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell pioneered the new curriculum at Harvard Law School in the late 19th century. What?  WTF?  Appalachian School of Law had created -- from its inception in the mid-1990s -- a practice-ready, experiential curriculum for all students (not just 3Ls) long before Washington and Lee announced its program!  But for us, the pedagogical approach was...

My bragging marathon about the Appalachian School of Law continues. Award-Winning Community Service Program ASL has twice won the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. In 2007, it was one of six recipients to win it. The sponsors of the Honor Roll include the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps., and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Selection factors include the scope and innovative nature of the program, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses. Emphasis on Serving the Community Since the founding of the Appalachian School of Law, students have provided over 100,000 hours of community service.   The founders of ASL made community service one of the three focuses of the school.  ASL s...