Mutua, Makau

English

Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law

UB Law Forum Volume 23 Number 2 Article 4 4-1-2011 Taking UB Law to the Forefront of Legal Education Makau Mutua Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/ub_law_forum Recommended Citation Mutua, Makau (2011) "Taking UB Law to the Forefront of Legal Education," UB Law Forum: Vol. 23 : No. 2 , Article 4. Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/ub_law_forum/vol23/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Alumni Publications at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in UB Law Forum by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact lawscholar@buffalo.edu. Even though the spring was late incoming to Buffalo this year,ourspirits as a school have never beenhigher.After much hard work,theschool is taking off in new and ex-citing ways.Let me provide you with just a fewexamples.Our reputation is on the rise,as evi-denced by several national rankings.In this,weshall not relent in our push for the Top 50.Thissemester,we have hired four new faculty – allwith star potential – who will teach in impor-tant areas of need in our curriculum,includingcriminal law and labor law.We have virtuallyredone the entire first floor – and entrance – tothe Law School.Adding to this energy,UB in-stalled former Provost Satish K.Tripathi as its15th president.Over the past three years,Presi-dent Tripathi has been a wonderful boosterand partner to this Law School.He caresdeeply about UB Law.We simply could nothave a better leader for our august university.This magazine highlights some of the workbehind one of our primary goals – our deter-mination to produce practice-ready attorneys.Since assuming the mantle of dean,I have beendriven by a singular commitment to producethe most skilled lawyers.To that end,we havespared no effort,or resources,to make that vi-sion come true.We have hired faculty commit-ted to great teaching,particularly in the black-letter law areas that are essential to the legalprofession.We have hired nine highly skilledresearch and writing instructors who areworking hard to train our students the “rightway”from day one.I cannot say enough about how utterlycrucial these hires are to the mission of the Law School.Our legal skills curriculum includes nearly half of our of-ferings – research and writing,trial and appellate advocacy,externships,moot courts, law reviews and ADR.These are thefundamental skills that make a lawyer.I must say that I couldnot be more proud of the job that our entire legal skills team,under the leadership of SUNY Distinguished ProfessorCharles Ewing,is doing to impart to our students the cultureand skills of great lawyering.Similarly,we are now revampingour clinical legal education program under Professor KimConnolly,a nationally renowned legal clinician and scholar.This investment in our clinics is absolutely essential because itis a key prong of the legal skills curriculum broadly defined.Finally,I want to say that great law schools teach law stu-dents how to think about complex legal problems while im-parting practical legal skills.You know as well as I do that thelegal profession is undergoing a deep transformation.Themarket is increasingly demanding that the law graduate ofthe future has the ability to hit the ground running.Lawschools will have to retool to respond to these market forces.But they must do so in a smart way.That is why we at UB Laware heavily investing in lawyering skills while teaching ourstudents to break down the most sophisticated legal theories.The two go hand in hand.I believe that the well-rounded lawgraduate has to be equipped to do both well.I want to assureyou that our faculty is equal to this challenge.Please join us intaking UB Law to its place at the forefront of legal education.Thank you.Dean Makau W.Mutua 2U B  L A W  F O R U M  •  S P R I N G  2 0 1 1Message from the DeanTaking UB Law to the forefront of legal educationDean Makau W. Mutua with UB’s 15th president, Satish K. Tripathi.

Taking UB Law to the Forefront of Legal Education

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Taking UB Law to the Forefront of Legal Education

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