AALS has launched a series that will highlight a different member school and focus on a recent program or accomplishment in order to showcase the rich variety of approaches to legal education that makes up the American legal academy. A list of past highlights is available below.

Member School Highlight – Lewis and Clark Law School

Location: Portland, Oregon
Founded: 1884
Joined AALS: 1973
Dean: Jennifer J. Johnson

Portland, Oregon’s only law school, Lewis & Clark Law School, sits adjacent to Lewis & Clark College and Tryon Creek State Park in the Pacific Northwest forest. Lewis & Clark Law is a private law school that offers flexible study options, nationally recognized programs, and experiential learning. Once exclusively a night program, Lewis & Clark Law School expanded their offerings in 1970 to include an extensive range of daytime classes. Lewis & Clark Law School rose from a position as a highly respected regional institution to national prominence, distinguished for its legal education, research, and service. Lewis & Clark Law School is known for producing “practice-ready” graduates by employers.

A look inside Lewis & Clark Law School’s Mock Trial and Moot Court program

Lewis & Clark Law School trains leaders in climate change, animal protection, criminal justice, and business law, and our students and alumni develop sustainable, resilient, and equitable solutions amidst the complexities of climate change and in the pursuit of environmental justice. Lewis & Clark Law School is known for its environmental and animal law programs, with a broad depth to our course offerings and clinic/practical training experiences. The criminal law program and business law are equally robust, and they engage with the state criminal justice system and corporate community, respectively, to enhance foundational law instruction.

Studying law at Lewis & Clark goes beyond lectures, papers, and exams as we lead the way in developing practical skills opportunities for our students. All students at the law school engage in practical training skill programs through the Advocacy Center, our nine clinics, and/or hundreds of externships here and abroad. Dozens of volunteers from Portland’s legal community train students in courtroom techniques to compete in mock trials and moot courts. Clinics in environmental law litigation, international wildlife law, small business transactional law, tax law, criminal justice reform, crime victim representation, and farmed animal law highlight many students’ law school tenure. The emphasis on experiential learning begins on the first day of law school in a year-long “Foundations” class that prepares students to engage with clients.

“Our nationally renowned experiential learning program provides excellent training for our students,” said Jennifer Johnson, Dean and Erskine Wood Sr. Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. “The new Advocacy Center expands simulation courses and competition teams, offering practical skills in a low-stakes setting to prepare students for real-world legal practice.”