Elon University/Today at Elon/North Carolina Lawyer Magazine features Q&A with Dean Emeritus of Elon Law
Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus Luke Bierman spoke with the North Carolina Bar Association’s flagship publication about his tenure as Dean of Elon University’s Downtown Greensboro Law School and the achievements of its students, graduates, faculty and staff.
Elon Law Dean Emeritx Luke Bierman was featured in the February 2022 issue of North Carolina Lawyer Magazine where he shared his thoughts on the accomplishments of the law school community during his recently concluded deanship.
“Bierman Completes Groundbreaking Term as Dean of Elon University Law School” included observations on Elon Law’s 2.5-year curriculum, skyrocketing pass rates to the bar and law school work placement, and more broadly legal education.
“There are really three core elements to Elon Law’s legal education curriculum,” Bierman told the magazine. “One is the mandatory residency-in-practice program that puts students in the shoes of a licensed practicing lawyer. Then there is the 2.5 year component, which is all about value and makes it more affordable and opens it up to students who otherwise might not have thought of coming to law school. And then there is the logical progression of learning. We design every step students take to be part of a progression of bar exam preparation and practice and success.
“Those are the three essential elements that distinguish what we have done at Elon Law, and we have engaged in very frank and difficult conversations to accomplish this approach. We are disrupting 150 years of tradition. And the results speak for themselves.”
Bierman announced last spring his intention to end his service as dean at the end of the 2021 calendar year. He joined the Elon Law community in June 2014, succeeding the late dean emeritus George R. Johnson, Jr.
Prior to joining Elon Law, Bierman was Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Distinguished Professor of Legal Practice at Northeastern University School of Law. Previously, he served as general counsel for the New York State Comptroller’s Office from 2007 to 2010, was executive director of the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University, founded the Justice Center, and led the division Judiciary of the American Bar Association, and served as Chief Counsel for the Appellate Division, Third Department, of the New York Supreme Court in Albany, where he also served as clerk for the presiding judge of the court and an associate judge .
The Bierman Legal Scholarship focuses on judicial selection, justice system reform, state constitutional law, and ethics.
A nationwide search is currently underway as Elon University leaders search for the law school’s fourth dean. Acting Dean Alan Woodlief took over as head of the law school effective January 1.
