Arizona Attorney Q&A with Dean Marc Miller Covers “A New Day in Court,” Space Law and Policy, JD-Next, and More
Arizona Attorney Magazine
Update’s from Arizona’s Law Schools
September 2024
University of Arizona Law Dean and Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law Marc Miller discussed “A New Day in Court” renovation project, Space Law and Policy, JD-Next, clinic achievements and more in his Q&A with Arizona Attorney Magazine.
From Arizona Attorney Magazine:
What are some significant developments you’d like to share about your law school?
University of Arizona Law’s “A New Day in Court” renovation project, which will transform our Advocacy program, kicked off in January 2024 and will be completed this fall. The renovation project includes the construction of new state-of-the-art court rooms, classrooms and lobby spaces that will literally put advocacy skills front and center at University of Arizona Law. The project also includes renaming the advocacy program as the Thomas Mauet Advocacy Program, in honor of Professor Emeritus and renowned trial expert Thomas Mauet, who retired as advocacy program director in 2016, and who taught his last evidence class this past spring.
In making this project a reality, the University of Arizona Law community has raised more than $4.8 million for building renovations, entirely through donor contributions, and plans to raise another $4 million for an endowed chair of advocacy, an endowed professorship, and an endowment fund to support student experiential advocacy activities such as travel to advocacy competitions.
For the third year in a row, the quality of our students and the breadth and depth of their training are reflected in the fact that our recent graduates at the University of Arizona Law have hit record employment numbers. The class of 2023’s full-time, long-term, rate of employment for bar passage required and JD-Advantage jobs was 90.35 percent, the highest ever, exceeding the national 2023 class rate of 85.6 percent reported to the ABA.
We are proud of our graduates and their accomplishments and grateful for the student-focused and employer-focused work of our excellent Career Development Office.
What choices are you seeing prospective students make in regard to admissions criteria? Are more students opting for something besides the LSAT?
We are seeing prospective students make choices based on what works for them. Although the LSAT remains the most common choice for applicants, we are seeing more and more students explore other avenues such as the GRE and JD-Next.
In 2006, University of Arizona Law became the first law school in the country to accept the GRE for admission to our JD program. At the time, that was a bold and controversial step. We were followed the next year by Harvard, and then by about 70 other law schools, at which point the ABA regulator approved use of the GRE for JD admissions by any accredited law school. Now more than 115 law schools accept the GRE as an alternative basis for admission.
JD-Next was our next and even deeper foray into expanding JD admissions and reducing the disparities in access to legal education and the legal profession. Over the last five years, with significant funding from the AccessLex Foundation and the ETS Foundation, we developed JD-Next.
JD-Next uses a testing theory sometimes referred to as “proximal testing” which focuses on training an individual and then assessing those skills. It is focused on assessing potential, not past endowments. We then proved the validity and reliability of the JD-Next exam through formal experimentation, and with the help of dozens of law schools and thousands of law students around the country.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard has made a testing option that reduces or eliminates racial disparities even more timely.
Law schools often play the role of legal innovation laboratory. Can you share new practice areas the school is excited to instruct in?
This past year we launched a new course, Space Law and Policy, in collaboration with the College of Science. This initiative leverages the university’s renowned strengths in astronomy and space exploration to propel our students into the exciting and rapidly evolving field of space law. It introduced students to the legal and regulatory issues raised by human activity in outer space, including asteroid mining, lunar resources, space tourism, traffic management, communications satellites and national security.
Professor Vishnu Reddy, a world-renowned planetary sciences expert, co-taught this course alongside Milton O. Riepe Professor of Law & Distinguished Legal Scholar Andrew Keane Woods. Professor Reddy’s contributions focus on the fundamental concepts of space, the history of space exploration, and the specifics of celestial bodies such as the moon and asteroids. His hands-on approach, incorporating laboratory experiences and night sky observations, enriches the learning experience for our students.
In addition, University of Arizona Law and the Attorney General Alliance partnered to launch a new online concentration in Cannabis Law and Regulation, addressing the need for accredited legal training in the rapidly growing U.S. intrastate cannabis market. The program was designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of cannabis laws and regulations in the U.S., and to prepare them for careers in private and public entities in this emerging industry.
Do you have any news about creation or expansion of clinics?
We have one of the most vibrant and diverse clinical programs in the country, repeatedly recognized in rankings for clinical and experiential learning.
Students in University of Arizona Law’s Education Advocacy Clinic—which works to enforce public school students’ rights by providing information, support and legal services to children in Tucson’s K-12 schools—will now be able to better serve students and their families after petitioning the Arizona Supreme Court to change a rule regarding the practice of nonlawyer education advocates.
Working alongside the Arizona Center for Disability Law, Diana Newmark, Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Education Advocacy Clinic, and clinic students drafted a proposed order that would allow nonlawyer educated advocates to engage in informal advocacy measures without violating the prohibition on the unauthorized practice of law. Such measures include attending meetings or mediation and conducting outreach to school officials.
The clinic accepts students from the JD, Master of Legal Studies (MLS), and BA in Law programs and focuses on serving children who are involved in juvenile delinquency, child welfare, or immigration matters. Clinic legal services include representation in school discipline and special education matters. Students in the clinic work together on education advocacy cases, supervised by Professor Newmark.
This summer, the Veterans’ Advocacy Law Clinic (VALC), brilliantly directed by Professor Kristine Huskey, received a two year gift from Philip Morris International to support military veterans in their transition to civilian life. The additional funds will help us reach more veterans and increase our ability to train more law students on veterans’ issues.
Later this year, the IP and Entrepreneurship Clinic, helmed by Professor (and Doctor) Gavin Milczarek-Desai, is expected to culminate in the issuance of their 100th registration. The clinic is focused exclusively on direct client representation in transactional matters involving intellectual property and provides a unique training experience for law students while making a difference in the economic lives of under-resourced Arizonans.