How does one get a lecturer/adjunct job at a law school? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a corporate attorney, never did anything related to academia, but have now had the itch to go teach a seminar while I practice. How can I make that happen? Do I need to go get a PhD while I work or is my practice sufficient?

[nixy]

You totally don’t need a PhD, as an adjunct (especially in corporate) your practice experience is most important. I’d look through your local law school’s catalog and identify courses you think you’d be qualified to teach related to your practice. (Like volunteering to teach Crim Pro as a corporate attorney isn’t going to be very convincing.) Then write up a cover letter about what you want to teach, why you’re qualified to teach it, and send it off with a resume to, probably, the Dean of faculty? It can help to search schools’ job listings and see what materials they want and who to send them to in the school’s hierarchy, even if it’s not actually a school you’re applying to, just to see what the applications expect.

Or you could try contacting the hiring person ahead of time, tell them you’re interested, ask if there are any needs you might be able to fill and what materials they’d want to see from you. Law school classes tend to skew towards litigation so getting a corporate practitioner can be desirable.

Or if you know anyone working at the school (particularly faculty) try reaching out the them and asking them what the best procedure would be.

[Anonymous User]

N.B. I’m sure this has occurred to you already, but you probably have a much better shot at getting in the door with your alma mater. There’s a healthy dose of self-favoritism for those lecturer seats vs. the tenure track positions (which all go to YSH grads).

Who knows, maybe with the advent of Zoom, you’d be able to teach at your alma mater on the side - even if you’re now located somewhere else.

[bretby]

I think it likely varies somewhat school to school, so I think the best thing to do would be to contact current adjuncts at the school you want to teach (maybe someone who teaches something similar or who is an alum
from your school) and ask them how they did it. Other than legal writing programs, I don’t know that schools have a formal way of soliciting adjuncts, so insider info is even more valuable.

[CanadianWolf]

Lots of adjuncts teach in LLM programs. Some are alums, but definitely not necessary. Have to be accomplished in the real world in the subject matter being taught. This is a differentiating factor between JD programs and LLM programs from what I have experienced & from what I have gathered by researching dozens of LLM programs.

Connections made between student & LLM adjunct professor can result in a job interview, very meaningful recommendations, as well as insight into the "personality" of certain practice areas at corporations, government agencies, and at law firms.

FWIW LLM programs tend to be interesting because almost all students are members of at least one state bar and have work experience in the legal field.

[papermateflair]

Does anyone at your firm currently adjunct at one of your local law schools? I know at my firm we have multiple people adjuncting in various LLM programs, and so they would be a good resource for anyone who wanted to consider it. The people I know who do this do NOT have PhDs, they're just practitioners who are really experienced and want to share their love of the subject with students.