Robert Cullen’s spring semester class, “Leadership for Lawyers” was noted in Stephanie West Allen’s (’79) blog. The article is reprinted below – to visit the blog, go to http://www.idealawg.com
Leading lawyers: New course teaching lawyers to lead may be the first of its kind
In this year’s spring semester at Santa Clara University School of Law, Robert Cullen broke new ground with his class called Leadership for Lawyers. In developing the class, he consulted with Kirk Hanson, executive director of SCU’s
“The leadership training and development is based on The Leadership Challenge,” Cullen says. “We’ll use case studies and guest speakers to illustrate the ways the principles apply specifically to law.”
Posner:
“In law school, like medical school, the focus is on learning the skills to get the job done,” he says. “But in the end, it’s all about working with other people to make things happen. Many leaders are ordinary people. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.”
Posner thinks teaching lawyers to lead is critical.
“If you understand the impact that law and lawyers have on our society, it seems almost criminal that we don’t offer leadership training as part of a legal education,” he says. “Leadership isn’t the responsibility of some hero or famous person; it’s everyone’s responsibility."
Donald Polden, dean of
I hear that other law schools are considering similar courses; I will let you know about them as they develop. If you hear of any, please let me know.
Perhaps in the near future law firms will be able to collaborate with law schools instead of teaming up with business schools (as they are doing here and here) to train their lawyers in leadership. Seems to make more sense to me considering the fact that lawyers are unique, as are their leadership challenges.