Visiting Assistant Professor, Law

at  Gonzaga University

JOB SUMMARY

The Visiting Assistant Professor will teach two sections of Lawyering Skills in the Spring 2025 semester.Candidates must demonstrate the ability to be an outstanding teacher, with a commitment to Gonzaga Law’s humanist mission of educating the whole person. Visiting Assistant Professors are also encouraged to participate in all aspects of intellectual life at Gonzaga Law, particularly through our two academic Centers – the Center for Civil & Human Rights (CCHR) and the Center for Law, Ethics & Commerce (CLEC). Gonzaga Law embraces its humanist mission of educating the whole person and preparing lawyers to serve marginalized populations in an increasingly international legal market. Law faculty instruct law students, provide service to the law school and University, and engage with other professionals and the public to contribute to the intellectual exchange of ideas, to improve the law, and to educate the profession and the public about the law, with an eye towards the common good.
Lawyering Skills is a new course at Gonzaga Law that introduces first-year law students to lawyering skills and professionalism values through a case study model using a pre-established curriculum. The course covers three credits, inclusive of a one-week January intersession. During the intersession, students will learn about scope of representation, structure of law firms, how to evaluate a case, how to talk to a supervisor about taking a case, professional identity, preparing for a client interview, and understanding the law. The remainder of the spring course will meet twice a week and will focus on lawyering skills such as witness interviewing, drafting pleadings and discovery, taking depositions, and alternative dispute resolution. It will be broken into a one-hour large group lecture and a two-hour small group section. The course will have six sections with approximately 30-35 students in each section. The students in each section will work in small groups during the various exercises. The course will use a single unifying problem the entire semester that includes both tort and property elements and that covers both transaction and litigation skills.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Juris Doctor or equivalent degree earned from an ABA-accredited law school or its equivalent by the hire date;
• Demonstrated record of academic achievement;
• Superior recommendations;
• Twelve months experience practicing law; and
• Demonstrated record of excellent teaching or an ability to become an

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• One law review publication or its equivalent;
• Six months experience teaching at a law school or in a legal clinical setting;
• Scholarly and/or professional alignment with CCHR and CLEC, Gonzaga Law’s two academic centers.
• Demonstrated teaching effectiveness including responding to the academic needs of learners from underrepresented communities and those with diverse backgrounds, identities, and cultures.
• Excellence in interpersonal communication, leadership, collaboration, innovation, and organizational skills; and
• Commitment to collegiality, evidence of self-awareness, and appreciation for humor, including the ability to laugh at one’s self.

1. Instructional Duties

• Teach two sections of Lawyering Skills using a pre-established curriculum.
• Coordinate and collaborate with the other Lawyering Skills instructors and the Director of Experiential Learning to ensure a consistent learning experience for students.

1. Professional Development

• Contribute to the intellectual exchange of ideas, enrich teaching, and educate the profession about the law.
• Engage in continuing professional development as a member of the academic community, including through working with CCHR and CLEC, Gonzaga Law’s two academic centers.

1. Administrative Duties

Devote some time to non-teaching activities essential to the operation of a law school committed to excellence. Responsibilities may include:

• attending workshops and events.
• advising law students.
• maintaining regular office hours;
• complying with ABA and University policies; and
• cooperating with the school’s efforts to comply with applicable law