Job Announcement: Long Term Contract Faculty Position at UC Hastings College of Law
The University of California Hastings College of the Law is recruiting for a teaching/supervising clinical faculty position. This is a Long Term Contract Faculty position with an initial three-year contract period beginning July 1, 2015. Salary is commensurate with law school teaching experience.
The successful applicant's teaching responsibilities will involve teaching and supervising students in the Individual Representation Clinic (IR), the Lawyers for America (LfA) program, and other externships. The IR Clinic is an in-house litigation-based clinic serving low-income clients in wage and hour employment cases, unemployment insurance appeals, social security disability administrative hearings, in-home supportive services appeals, and other practice areas at the discretion of the faculty teaching in this clinic. All cases within IR have the potential to expose the students to the full-range of client representation skills in a litigation context, including client interviewing and counseling, factual investigation, legal research, legal drafting, and hearing and trial preparation. LfA offers UC Hastings students a full-year externship in an approved governmental or non-profit law office, followed by one year of post-graduate employment in the same placement. Responsibilities for LfA include curricular counseling, teaching a seminar, and supervising LfA students’ third-year externship placements.
Under the general direction of the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and the Provost and Academic Dean, the Long Term Contract Faculty has both classroom teaching and student casework supervision responsibilities. Typical duties consist of, but are not necessarily limited to: collaborating with co-teachers in the development and revisions of a syllabus for the accompanying seminar; preparing teaching, substantive legal training, and case-related materials; screening and selecting cases; leading and facilitating twice-weekly seminar sessions; as well as teaching, supervising, and mentoring students in all aspects of legal practice. Areas of focus include the role responsibilities and ethical obligations of lawyers, applicable law in relevant fields of practice, training and intensive supervision in the lawyering skills mentioned above, in addition to the skill of introspective reflection on practice experience. The Long Term Contract Faculty also assumes direct responsibility for representing clients when students are not available, serves as coordinating or lead counsel on long-term projects, and is responsible for developing and managing the client caseload, planning the educational curriculum, and operating the on-site clinical office.
Experience in or aptitude for clinical law teaching and student supervision, relevant legal practice experience, and subject matter expertise will be central considerations in the selection process. Relevant subject matter expertise can include employment/wage and hour law, public benefits, and poverty law. Familiarity with local non-profit and governmental law offices and the ability to effectively work with supervising attorneys in these offices to ensure a meaningful externship experience for students is a plus.
The position requires membership in the California State Bar. Long Term Contract Faculty are considered faculty and are involved in institutional governance including serving on faculty committees. Successful candidates will have demonstrated excellence in clinical teaching and in supportive, mentoring supervision, have at least five years of meaningful hands-on lawyering experience from which they can articulate lessons and approaches, and have demonstrated a commitment to public and professional service.
To apply, please submit a cover letter, CV, and references to Katey Mason at masonk@uchastings.edu by April 3, 2015. Please address any questions to the chair of the LTCF appointments committee, Prof. Ascanio Piomelli, at piomelli@uchastings.edu. UC Hastings is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply.