Of course! A law school teaching career is a prestigious and rewarding path, but it is also highly competitive. Here is a comprehensive guide to the various teaching opportunities in law schools, the qualifications needed, and the steps to pursue them.

I. Types of Law School Teaching Positions

Law schools hire for a variety of roles, each with different expectations, security, and career trajectories.

1. Tenure-Track & Tenured Faculty (The "Gold Standard")

This is the traditional path for becoming a law professor. The goal is to achieve tenure, which provides significant job security and academic freedom.

• Role: Tenure-track faculty are expected to excel in three areas:


• Teaching: Typically 2-3 courses per semester, including large first-year classes (like Torts or Contracts) and smaller, specialized seminars.


• Scholarship: Producing high-quality, original legal scholarship (law review articles, books) that influences the academic and legal community.


• Service: Serving on faculty committees, advising students, and contributing to the law school and university governance.


• Qualifications:


• Elite Credentials: A J.D. from a top-tier law school is almost always a prerequisite.


• Strong Academic Record: High grades, law review membership, and often a clerkship (especially with a federal appellate or Supreme Court justice).


• Prestigious Experience: Several years at a top law firm, a prominent government agency, a public interest organization, or a Ph.D. in a related field.


• Fellowships: Many candidates now complete a VAP or Fellowship (see below) to build their scholarly profile.

2. Legal Writing Faculty

These are specialists who teach the fundamental skill of legal analysis, research, and writing. This is a growing and increasingly professionalized field.

• Role: Teaching small-section legal writing classes, often with multiple sections per semester. They provide intensive feedback on student drafts.


• Career Path: Many schools have created a separate "contract" or "clinical" tenure track for legal writing professors, offering greater job security than in the past.


• Qualifications:


• Strong legal research and writing skills.


• Practice experience is highly valued.


• Membership in the Legal Writing Institute (LWI) is very important for networking and professional development.

3. Clinical Faculty

Clinical professors supervise students who provide legal services to real clients through in-house law school clinics (e.g., criminal defense, immigration, environmental law).

• Role: "Teaching lawyering" through hands-on experience. They supervise student work, teach seminar components on lawyering skills, and often manage a caseload.


• Career Path: Like legal writing, this field has moved toward its own tenure track ("clinical tenure") at many schools.


• Qualifications:


• Significant practice experience in the relevant field.


• A passion for teaching and mentoring.


• A state bar license is required to supervise students.


• Membership in the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) is key.

4. Legal Research & Writing (LRW) or Academic Support Professionals

Often overlapping with legal writing, these roles focus on helping students, particularly 1Ls, develop the skills needed to succeed in law school and on the bar exam.

• Role: Teaching courses or workshops on case briefing, outlining, exam-taking, and bar preparation.


• Qualifications: A passion for teaching foundational skills, patience, and often experience in academic support or bar preparation.

5. Visiting Professors & Fellows

These are temporary positions that can be a crucial stepping stone to a permanent job.

• Visiting Professor: An established professor from another school or a practitioner who teaches for a semester or a year.


• Fellowship / VAP (Visiting Assistant Professor): This is the primary entry-level pathway for the tenure track. These are 1-2 year positions where the Fellow teaches one course and spends the majority of their time developing a portfolio of scholarly articles.


• Qualifications: Similar to tenure-track candidates (elite credentials, clerkship), but the focus is on demonstrating scholarly potential.

6. Adjunct Professors

These are practicing lawyers or judges who teach a single specialized course (e.g., Patent Law, Entertainment Law, Trial Advocacy) on a part-time basis.

• Role: Bring real-world expertise into the classroom.


• Qualifications: Significant expertise and reputation in a specific legal field. This is not a full-time career but a way to contribute to legal education while maintaining a practice.

II. The Essential Pathway to a Tenure-Track Job

The market for tenure-track jobs is formalized and highly competitive. Here are the typical steps:

• Build a Stellar Foundation (During & After Law School):


• Graduate at the top of your class from the best law school you can attend.


• Be an editor (preferably an Articles Editor or Editor-in-Chief) of your school's law review.


• Secure a federal clerkship, ideally at the appellate level.


• Gain Prestigious Practical Experience (2-5 years):


• Work at a renowned law firm, the DOJ, a U.S. Attorney's office, a prominent public interest organization, or as a staff attorney for a judge.


• Complete a Fellowship or VAP (The New Norm):


• Apply for VAP programs at law schools. These are advertised on the AALS Faculty Appointments Register (FAR) and individual school websites.


• The goal of the fellowship is to produce one or two publishable, high-quality law review articles—your "job talk" papers.


• Enter the "Hiring Market":


• The AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference (aka "The Meat Market"): This is the primary national hiring event. You must be registered with the FAR. Schools review FAR forms and invite selected candidates for initial interviews at the conference.


• The "Flyback": Successful conference interviewees are invited to visit law schools for a full day of meetings, a job talk presentation of their scholarship, and often a sample class.

III. Key Resources & Job Listings

• Association of American Law Schools (AALS):


• AALS Faculty Appointments Register (FAR): The central database for tenure-track candidates.


• AALS Career Services: Lists various types of law teaching jobs.


• The Legal Writing Institute (LWI) Job Board: The best place to find legal writing positions.


• Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) and PSLawNet: Excellent for clinical job listings.


• Individual Law School Websites: Always check the "Employment" or "Careers" sections of schools you are interested in.


• LinkedIn and HigherEdJobs: Increasingly used for all academic positions, including adjunct roles.

IV. Important Considerations

• Scholarship is King (for Tenure-Track): Your ideas and writing are the primary currency. Start thinking about your scholarly agenda early.


• Networking is Critical: Attend academic conferences, present your work at "works-in-progress" workshops, and connect with professors in your field.


• Geographic Flexibility: You greatly increase your chances if you are willing to move anywhere in the country for the right opportunity.


• It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint: The process from law school graduation to a tenure-track offer can easily take 5-8 years.

If you are passionate about shaping the next generation of lawyers and contributing to the development of law through teaching and scholarship, a career in legal academia can be immensely fulfilling. Identify which path aligns with your strengths and goals, and begin building your profile accordingly.