New Notre Dame program helps first-year law students

The University of Notre Dame Law School has introduced a new program designed to help first-year law students adjust to the rhythms of law school upon arriving on campus.

In early August, 19 students joined Notre Dame law professors for the inaugural Dean’s Initiative for Leadership and Scholarly Excellence.

The program is designed to give students who feel they may need extra guidance when starting their legal education the opportunity to meet with law school faculty and learn about the law school process before they start classes.

“Our goals are to both come alongside them as they begin their law school journey and make sure that they feel prepared and supported and connected within their community,” said Kristina Swanson, an associate teaching professor and one of several faculty members who helped get the program off the ground.

Students in the program were selected based on their limited exposure to the legal profession compared to some of their peers.

Faculty hope the students will take what they’ve learned from the program so far into their communities in law school and beyond.

Transition to leadership

The idea for the program was formulated by Marcus Cole, dean of the Notre Dame law school, who had a similar experience as a first-year student at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

Like Notre Dame, Northwestern’s program is designed to help incoming law students get a jumpstart on their law school experience.

Similar programs can be found at schools across the country. While leaders at Notre Dame drew inspiration from some of those programs, they were also looking at how the program could build peer community and align with the “Notre Dame way.”

Swanson said the program puts a significant emphasis on leadership development, a trait the university as a whole encourages in its students.

“We really were looking for students with a combination of, perhaps less exposure to the law and the legal profession, but also demonstrated leadership skills,” Swanson said. “We would be helping them on ramp into law school, but they would eventually become leaders in their class.”

Each student applied to the program at the same time they applied to law school. As part of the application process, students submitted an essay explaining how their law school experience would benefit from the program based on their prior lack of exposure to the profession.

The cohort arrived on campus in early August for a nine-day immersive experience to get to know the campus, members of the faculty and each other. During the experience, the cohort participated in mock classes on topics like contracts, legal writing, and civil procedure taught by law school professors and Dean Cole.

They also met with Notre Dame alumni and law school upperclassmen, the latter of which will act as mentors for the students during their first year.

“It was daunting in the moment, but I think it gave me a sense of peace going forward into the school year,” Molly Galbreath, a member of the cohort, said of the mock classes they participated in.

This year’s cohort includes students from a variety of backgrounds, Swanson said. While the selection committee didn’t have set criteria for who they were looking for, they tried to find first-generation law students and students whose backgrounds didn’t lend themselves to extensive exposure to the law, she said.

Among those chosen for the program are students from both large and small undergraduate schools. The cohort also includes several military service members, including two Army veterans and an active-duty member of the United States Air Force.

“Maybe their earlier schooling was very different than law school, but they also had that special quality that we knew would help them really contribute to the overall class and community after the program,” Swanson said.

The program’s impact

Stephen Jung, a member of the cohort, said his background is “anything but” what would be expected of a typical law student. As a child, he saw the judicial system through the lens of custody battles, with judges making decisions based not on what was best, but rather, what wasn’t the worst.

“It was very difficult for me to reconcile as a 12-year-old that my best-case scenario was the lesser of two evils,” he said.

The experience stuck with him as he grew older, and he decided he wanted to help others whose shoes he once filled.

That eventually led him to law school, though his steps there were anything but straightforward.

“In my case, there was a calling to find whatever avenue I could to continue that commitment of service and trying to give back in every way that I can and moving back around to that [law school] was a logical step for me,” he said.

Galbreath said the idea of law school was both exciting and daunting to her. Raised by a single parent and with no prior exposure to the legal profession, Galbreath was intimidated by the prospect but is spurred on by her own passion to help abuse survivors feel seen and heard in the court system.

She said the Leadership and Scholarly Excellence program is already helping her find her footing in the new environment.

“I already feel so supported by the program,” she said. “Just having that accountability and support right off the bat in a sea of what would’ve been unfamiliar faces is so reassuring.”

Beyond the first few weeks of school, the cohort is looking forward to establishing study groups, seeking mentorship, and attending monthly programming designed to support their law school experience through their first year.

Program leaders hope the students continue to use what they’re learning from the program to help other classmates maneuver law school as well.

“After having been through the program, they already were a little step ahead in terms of some of the information and were able to help their classmates process and understand some of the ways that law school begins,” Swanson said.

The students are looking forward to doing the same.

“I get that law school can be a competitive process, and you hear the horror stories, but…I just have no interest in pushing that forward,” Jung said. “There’s so much that goes on in the world that requires a little bit of community, and I am dedicated to being an usher of that.”•