GW Law will receive an award recognizing its foundational 1L programs at the inaugural Holloran Center Conference and Law Journal Symposium at St. Thomas University on April 25.
The first annual Holloran Center Professional Identity Formation Signature Program Award recognizes GW Law for its 1L professional formation experience, which includes the Fundamentals of Lawyering, Inns of Court, and Foundations of Practice programs. Working in tandem, these three programs equip GW Law students with the tools, knowledge, and experiences necessary to help them excel as law students and practicing lawyers.
“The Fundamentals of Lawyering, Inns of Court, and Foundations of Practice programs are the signature programs that distinguish the GW Law experience,” said Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew. “Through these three programs, GW Law students enter the workforce ready to make an impact on the law. I’m proud of our 1L programs for receiving this exciting award.”
The Fundamentals of Lawyering program introduces first-year students to the skills that will advance them from the classroom to the law firm, boardroom, courtroom, and the many other settings where law is practiced. Students leave the program prepared to apply their training to answer questions with nuanced analytical, research, and writing skills to provide clients with legal advice that enhances their businesses and advances their interests.
“The Fundamentals of Lawyering program starts from the idea that learning to be a lawyer is not just about understanding legal doctrine, but about developing the judgment and professional habits that lawyers rely on in practice,” Professor Erika Pont, acting co-director of the Fundamentals of Lawyering Program, said. “From the first weeks of law school, we ask students to approach problems the way lawyers do — working through ambiguity, making careful analytical choices, and taking responsibility for the advice they give to clients. That kind of foundation is especially important as the profession changes, including with the growing role of artificial intelligence, because the tools lawyers use may evolve, but the need for sound judgment, ethical decision-making, and client-centered lawyering does not.”
Professor Pont will represent GW Law at the April 25 symposium, where she will present a framework for professional identity development as AI changes the lawyering and legal education landscape.
Through the Inns of Court program, GW Law students receive support and guidance from a diverse set of staff and faculty advisors dedicated to enriching their law school experience and enhancing their career opportunities. The Inns are communities within the law school, providing students with a dynamic combination of support, skills training and career development starting with their first week at GW Law.
The Foundations of Practice program is a voluntary professional development program that encourages students to take advantage of important resources to supplement their classroom education at every stage of their law school career. The program is designed to guide students’ professional formation by encouraging the transition from law student to competent and self-directed lawyer.
“The Inns of Court and Foundations of Practice programs are built on the belief that analytical skill alone does not make a great lawyer,” Professor Todd Peterson, the director of the Inns and Foundations programs, said. “The law requires something more — the ability to connect with people, to understand yourself, to build human capacities that go beyond what you learn in the typical doctrinal classroom. We call these critical professional skills, and they are mostly non-cognitive skills. Empathy. Self-awareness. Resilience. Judgment. Listening. The ability to read a room, to earn trust, to lead. These programs help our students become complete lawyers, able to serve their clients needs.”
GW Law’s Inns of Court and Foundations of Practice programs received the 2018 E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Professionalism.
Professor Katya Cronin to receive Holloran Award for scholarship on professional identity
In addition to the law school’s award, GW Law Professor Katya Cronin, associate professor of fundamentals of lawyering, will receive the Neil Hamilton Professional Identity Emerging Scholar Award for her article “Value-Centered Lawyering: Reshaping the Law School Curriculum to Promote Well-Being, Quality Representation, and a Thriving Legal Field.”
The article, which was published in the University of Detroit-Mercy Law Review in 2024, examines the causes driving diminished health, well-being, and professional dedication among lawyers and how law schools can play a role in combatting those issues.
"There is no silver bullet to ensuring the professional satisfaction, personal happiness, and physical and emotional wellbeing of lawyers," Professor Cronin said. "But, if we are serious about at least trying to make a difference, we need to go beyond the superficial advice that is so often doled out on the topic of mental health. We as law school faculty have the responsibility to ensure that our students are not just critical thinkers and skillful advocates, but also people of integrity, values, clear priorities, and dedication to their own wellbeing."
Professor Cronin’s pedagogy scholarship focuses on topics related to professional identity formation, lawyer and law student wellbeing, leadership, values, and ethics.
