UCI Law's Lawyering Skills Program Continues Its Tradition of Preparing Students to Practice at the Highest Levels of the Profession November 2020 What We're About... UCI Law's Lawyering Skills Program, currently ranked 11th in the country among Legal Writing Programs, offers students an innovative and comprehensive introduction to the range of critical skills necessary for students to thrive in the communities in which they practice. Here are some of the key attributes of our program:  A team of faculty members with full status who are dedicated teachers, scholars, and practitioners. Collectively, we have nearly 150 years of teaching experience. We also have a range of practical experience to offer our students, counting among our ranks prior solo practitioners, judicial clerks, award-winning legal journalists, large law firm partners, and those currently performing significant pro bono work for the local community. A comprehensive six-credit course covering a range of skills, including legal writing, research, analysis, oral advocacy, fact investigation, problem solving, client interviewing and counseling, negotiation, and contract drafting. A live client interviewing experience for every 1L through established partnerships with pro bono and government organizations. Small class sizes allowing for focused individualized attention for every student. A range of upper-division skills courses to complement the introduction in the 1L year. Regular communication with our clinical program (ranked eighth in the country) to provide students a seamless transition between the 1L Lawyering Skills Class and the mandatory clinic experience at UCI Law.  – Rachel Croskery-Roberts, UCI Law Associate Dean for Lawyering Skills and Professor of Lawyering Skills

Connecting Students to the Community During the Time of COVID-19: UCI Law's 1L Interviewing Project

Since its inception, UCI Law has been dedicated to helping students see the connection between the doctrine and theory taught in law school and the actual practice of law. One incredibly unique aspect of the Lawyering Skills Program is the introduction of a live interviewing experience in the 1L Lawyering Skills class. At either the end of the first semester or the beginning of the second semester, students receive basic instruction in client counseling and client interviewing techniques. Then each student at UCI Law is assigned to a public interest organization to receive training from the organization, observe a client interview, conduct an interview under observation, and then receive feedback. In addition to providing students with critical skills, this experience also allows students to make professional connections and to build bridges between the Law School and the community we serve. Over the past few years alone, the Lawyering Skills Program at UCI Law has worked with and placed students at Community Legal Aid SoCal, the Public Law Center, the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, Inland Counties Legal Services, Elder Law and Disability Rights Center, the Labor Commissioner, Bet Tzedek, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Camp Pendleton, the Veterans Legal Institute, and the Learning Rights Law Center. For many students, this introduction to the practice of law and direct services is a crucial part of the 1L experience, allowing students to see meaning in their work from day one. Of course, when the world changed in March 2020 due to COVID-19, many organizations scrambled to adjust to provide remote services, often to a client base without ready access to necessary technology. Some organizations continued in-person services, something UCI Law could not do for safety reasons. Nevertheless, due to the strong partnerships UCI Law has developed in the community and the support of our Director of Public Interest Programs, Anna Davis, the Lawyering Skills Program is working to pair 150 students with organizations to serve the community and to continue to provide this unique and valuable experience for our students. Professor Ezra Ross, who took over coordinating the program this year, notes: “Coordinating the program during the COVID-19 pandemic poses unique logistical challenges. But it’s worth it. Facilitating client interviews for our students provides invaluable real-world learning experiences. And it’s not just the students who benefit. The program helps provide access to legal services for the underserved in our community.”

Welcoming New Faculty and Visitors to UCI Law

This year, we welcomed Professor Cindy Thomas Archer to our team. She joins us after spending nearly two decades on the Loyola Law School faculty, where she was most recently the Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning. In spring 2021, we are thrilled to have Professor Olympia Duhart join us as a visiting faculty member in the Lawyering Skills Program. Professor Duhart is a tenured member of the faculty at Nova Southeastern Law School and is currently the Director of Nova’s Legal Research and Writing Program as well as the Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Development. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning and the Board of Governors for the Society of American Law Teachers.

What We've Been Up To... (December 2019 - December 2020)

Cindy Thomas Archer

Move: Professor Archer joined the Lawyering Skills faculty at UCI Law on July 1, 2020. Award: UCI Chancellor’s Inclusive Excellence Award Recipient, 2020-2022 Recent Presentations: Moderator, Law, Literature, and the Implications of Interdisciplinary Exchange, Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting, 2020 Invited Mentor, Legal Writing Institute Virtual Biennial Conference Speed Mentoring Program, September 2020 Upcoming Presentations: Invited Panelist, Integrating Issues of Race Across the Curriculum, One-Day Workshop, Co-Sponsored by the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research and Northeastern Law School, December 3, 2020. Presenter, Teaching Four Dimensional Lawyering in a Two Dimensional World (with Alison Mikkor), Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, California Western School of Law, December 9, 2020 National Committee Work: Association of Legal Writing Directors, Inclusive Leadership and Leadership Development Committee (Co-Chair) Legal Writing Institute, New Member Outreach Committee

Rachel Croskery-Roberts

Promotion: Professor Croskery-Roberts became the Associate Dean for Lawyering Skills on January 1, 2020. Board Membership: Elected to the Association of Legal Writing Directors Board of Directors, 2020-present Miscellaneous: Deputy Editor, American Bar Association Section of International Law, 2020 International Law Year in Review Recent Presentations: Presenter, Beyond the Traditional Course: What Do New Lawyers Actually Need to Know, and Are We Meeting Their Needs? (with Trilby Robinson-Dorn), One-Day Workshop, UCI Law, December 6, 2019 Presenter, Using Simulations and Live Client Interviews to Teach Cultural Competency and Professionalism, Global Legal Skills Conference, Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, December 12, 2019 Invited Mentor, Legal Writing Institute Virtual Biennial Conference Speed Mentoring Program, September 2020 Upcoming Presentations: Invited Presenter, Basic Writing and Organizational Principles for Drafting Investigative Reports, Webinar for the University of California Office of the President’s Office of Ethics, Compliance, and Audit Services, November 19, 2020 Moderator, Integrating Issues of Race Across the Curriculum, One-Day Workshop, Co-Sponsored by the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research and Northeastern Law School, December 3, 2020 Presenter, Using Guided Research Logs to Provide Scaffolding to Students Working on Their First Major Analytical Research Project, Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop (Tips and Advice for Novice Legal Writing Professors), Penn State Law School, December 9, 2020 Presenter, Thinking Like a Lawyer is Not Enough: Helping Students Develop a More Sophisticated Understanding of Doctrine and Theory by Teaching a Skills-Centered Doctrinal Course, Conference on Lawyering Skills in the Doctrinal Classroom, University of North Dakota Law School (originally scheduled for October 2020, postponed to May 2021) Publications: Ten Years In: A Critical View of the Past, Present, and Future of Skills Education at UC Irvine Law School, 10 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 469 (2020). Book Chapter, Helping Students Succeed in Synchronous and Asynchronous Environments (with Queena Mewers) (in Law Teaching Strategies for a New Era: Beyond the Physical Classroom) (forthcoming Summer 2021 with Carolina Academic Press) National Committee Work: Association of Legal Writing Directors, Teaching Grants Committee (Board Liaison) Association of Legal Writing Directors, Teaching Workshop Committee (Board Liaison) AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research, Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Legal Writing Institute, Society of American Law Teachers (“SALT”) Collaboration Committee

Alison Mikkor

Recent Presentations: Presenter, Let Me Ask You: Is There a Place for Client Interviewing in the First Semester?, Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, UCI Law, December 6, 2019 Invited Panelist, Mastering Online Instruction, AALS Faculty Focus Webinar Series, June 2020 Presenter, A Vehicle for Applied Skills on Day 1, William & Mary Law School’s Conference for Excellence in Teaching Legal Research & Writing Online, June 2020 Upcoming Presentations: Presenter, Making a Habit of Talking About Race, Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, Northeastern University School of Law, December 3, 2020 Presenter, Teaching Four Dimensional Lawyering in a Two Dimensional World (with Cindy Archer), Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, California Western School of Law, December 9, 2020 National Committee Work: Association of Legal Writing Directors, Teaching Workshop Committee Legal Writing Institute, New Member Outreach Committee

Trilby Robinson-Dorn

Promotion: Professor Robinson-Dorn became the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs on January 1, 2020. Recent Presentations: Moderator, Labor & Employment Law Society “A Day in the Life” Panel, February 24, 2020 Presenter, Awakening the “Critical” in Critical Thinking, (with Leslie Culver), Global Legal Skills Conference, Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, December 12, 2019 Presenter, Beyond the Traditional Course: What Do New Lawyers Actually Need to Know, and Are We Meeting Their Needs? (with Rachel Croskery-Roberts), One-Day Workshop, UCI Law, December 6, 2019 National Committee Work: Legal Writing Institute, ABA Task Force (Joint Committee with ALWD)

Ezra Ross

Client Representation: Represented client in federal benefits administration hearing before the U.S. Department of Labor Upcoming Presentation: Presenter, Walking the Walk: Practicing the Skills We Teach, Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, Mitchell Hamline Law School, December 4, 2020

Grace Tonner

Awards: Professor Tonner received the lifetime achievement award from the AALS Section on Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis in 2020. Recent Presentation: Presenter, Teaching Analysis Using Oral Advocacy, Global Legal Skills Conference, Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, December 13, 2019

Henry Weinstein

Recent Presentations: Live on-stage Conversation with Congresswoman Katie Porter of Orange County at the University of California Public Interest Law Conference, Beckman Center, University of California, Irvine, January 16, 2020 Live online conversation for the Orange County, California community with UCI Law Professor Rick Hasen, How to Hold Fair Elections During a Pandemic, June 4, 2020 Moderator, Can the Constitution Survive?, with Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and UCLA Law Dean Jennifer Mnookin, sponsored by Jews United for Justice and Democracy and Community Advocates, Inc. of Los Angeles, June 24, 2020 Live online discussion with Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky reviewing the last Supreme Court term and previewing the next one, sponsored by the Daily Californian, September 6, 2020. Live online discussion with UCI Law Professor Rick Hasen about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Presidential election, sponsored by the Newport Beach, California Public Library Foundation, October 15, 2020. Moderator, live online discussion on the ongoing problem of homelessness in Los Angeles as part of a series entitled Hour of Justice, sponsored by Public Counsel, the nation’s largest public interest law organization. Other participants were Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin, Public Counsel staff attorney Lorraine Lopez, and civil rights lawyer Carol Sobel, November 10, 2020. Publications: Article, Harry Bridges and the Los Angeles Times: Unlikely Free Speech Allies, a look back at Bridges v. California, an important First Amendment case decided by the Supreme Court in 1941. (forthcoming in The California Supreme Court Historical Society Review, Fall/Winter 2020).

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