So you want to be a law professor? Some advice for those transitioning from (military) practitioner to legal academic (Part 3)

As Lawfire^® readers know,  the Judge Advocates Association (JAA) recently hosted a panel discussion designed to help military lawyers (called judge advocates or JAGs) considering making the transition from practicing attorney to legal academic.  The webcast participants shared lots of great information, so I thought a mini-series on the topic would-be interesting.  This is Part 3 of the series.

Professor Mark Nevitt kindly agreed to kick off the series with his reflections, and they are in Part 1 found here.  Professor Geoff Corn provided great insights in Part 2 found here. 

Though this series is focused on those considering moving from practicing law in the armed forces to the halls of academia, I would suggest much of it is applicable to anyone wanting to teach in higher education (and particularly at law schools).  It also may help students and others understand what would be  professors face; it ‘pulls back the curtain’ so to speak.

Today to close out the mini-series, we have Professor Ellie Morales of Wake Forest Law and Professor John Brooker from the University of North Carolina School of Law sharing some excellent observations:

There are many “doors” to enter academia. The more traditional “front” door is the so-called “meat-market” for entry level candidates. Although, in the post-COVID era, this has largely been replaced by individual school-based hiring.

In contrast, a “back” door option to entering academia is through applying to be a clinical professor (or clinical fellow). This can provide a wonderful opportunity for new professors to establish their teaching methodology while still practicing law.

Many law schools will consider and potentially hire clinical professors as doctrinal professors while on the lateral market. Thus, “switching lanes” from clinical to doctrinal is possible in the legal academy.

Finally, a “side” door to academia is through applying to be a legal research and writing (LRW) professor. Likewise, switching from LRW to doctrinal is also possible in the academy if that is the preferred route.

There is not one specific “door” that is the “right way” to enter academia. Any door can result in a successful entry into the academy depending on one’s goals.

Frequent Lawfire^® contributor Dr. Brian Cox has also shared some very interesting insights:

Building on the “door” metaphor utilized by Ellie and John above, another potential “back door” to mention other than clinical work is to start off as an adjunct professor teaching a doctrinal (rather than clinical or research/writing) course.

The subject matter could be something that aligns with your interests and professional experience, especially if a proposed course would be a good fit for a particular school’s curriculum and it is not currently offered at that school. The pay as an adjunct is not as competitive as full-time salary, but this option can be a helpful bridge from military service to a full-time appointment if you are able to get by on adjunct pay at least initially.

A productive option for developing connections with the faculty at a particular school is to invite professor(s) at the school to provide a presentation and Q&A for your office as a leadership and professional development session.

Doing so, whether remotely or in person (though preferably the latter), allows your office to benefit from engaging with a scholar whose research/teaching interests align with a topic of interest to the unit, and the professional connections that emerge from such a session may even translate to prospective employment opportunities in the future.

If you’re considering transitioning out of the military and into academia, find and connect with former military members who are currently on faculty at various law schools. Faculty profile pages often list email addresses, so the primary challenge is identifying former military members rather than contacting them after you’ve found them.

Former military members who are currently in academia should consider establishing a formal network (if it doesn’t currently exist) to facilitate professional contacts for current members who expect to transition out of military service soon (among other productive functions for a formal network).

Finally, I’ll conclude by reinforcing Geoff Corn’s observation in Part II that law schools “hiring for tenure-track positions are not going to be significantly influenced by your experience.” The same can be said for the broader legal academy.

The experience you gain as a military practitioner can be vitally important to your craft as a legal researcher and professor, but conceptual perspectives and legal research techniques that aren’t necessarily a central component of military practice are also valuable in the academic setting. Be prepared to augment your military experience with scholarly skills rather than relying on the former alone.

I hope you have enjoyed this mini-series!.  Originally, I thought I would add my own thoughts on this topic, but my colleagues have done such an absolutely superb job I don’t know i would have all that much to add.  What I do hope to write about in the future is some tips about academic life once a former military practitioner has found a position.   Stay tuned!

About the Authors

Professor Ellie Morales is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Veterans Clinic at Wake Forest Law.  She joined he Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps in 2010, and her service included a deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan, where she served as an operational law attorney in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and U.S. forces.  She has BA from Davidson College, and a JD from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Professor John Brooker is a Clinical Associate Professor of Law, and Director of the Military and Veterans Law Clinic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.  He served more than 20 years as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate, including deployed service as a legal advisor for military operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).  He has a BA from Wake Forest University, a JD from the University of North Carolina, and a LL.M. from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School.

Dr. Brian L. Cox is an adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School and a graduate research fellow with the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University.  Brian retired in 2018 from the U.S. Army after 22 years of military service. His combat deployments include Iraq from 2003-2004 as a combat camera operator and Afghanistan from 2013-2014 as the chief of international and operational law for Regional Command-East in Afghanistan. Brian also served as a military prosecutor, federal prosecutor, brigade judge advocate, and military magistrate while he was a military legal advisor. Brian holds a J.S.D. from Cornell Law School, an LL.M. from Queen’s Law, and a B.A. (International Studies) and J.D. from the University of North Carolina.

Remember what we like to say on Lawfire^®: gather the facts, examine the law, evaluate the arguments – and then decide for yourself!