Law Schools and Clinical IP Hiring

By Jason Rantanen

Last month, the American Bar Association’s governing body approved a requirement that all law students at ABA-accredited law schools take a minimum of six credit hours of clinical or other “experiential” coursework during law school.  Since most law schools in the United States are accredited by the ABA, this new skills requirement will have a broad reach.

At the same time, several law schools have begun to ramp up their clinical intellectual property programs.  And despite the general downturn in faculty hiring over the past few years, there is substantial activity in this particular area.  Here are some of the current openings for clinical IP faculty:

Clinical Professor, Center for Intellectual Property Research, Indiana University – Bloomington Maurer School of Law.  From the posting: “Indiana University Maurer School of Law (Bloomington) invites applications for a full-time faculty position in the school’s new intellectual property law clinic, a part of the Center for Intellectual Property Research.”

Clinical Professor and Director, Indie Film Clinic, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University.  From Prof. Burstein: “Cardozo seeks a director for its Indie Film Clinic, which provides pro bono legal and business services — drafting and negotiating formation, acquisition, chain of title, and sales agreements and offering advice on licensing and fair use — for emerging and independent filmmakers in New York City.  The clinic director will design and oversee all aspects of the clinic’s teaching and client-service missions, including working with partner organizations, supervising students in all aspects of business representation, and preparing and teaching a seminar component of the clinic.”  More details available here: Indie Film job description

Transactional clinician, Boston College Law School.  Boston College is searching for a transactional clinician, with IP within the search area.  More details here: BC Clinical opening

Clinical Professor, Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic, University of Richmond School of Law.  From Prof. Cotropia: “The University of Richmond School of Law seeks a full-time clinical faculty member to develop, run, and teach our Intellectual Property and Transactional Law clinic, which provides non-litigation legal services to small businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profits, authors, and artists.  The focus of the clinic is business formation, business transactions, and intellectual property issues, but the Clinical Professor will play a major role in determining the clinic’s specific emphasis and operation. ”  Details here: https://richmond.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=418

Director, Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, University of Southern California Gould School of Law.  From the posting: “Applicants will be considered for continuous appointment to the Law School’s clinical professor track.  The Director will be responsible for all aspects of running the IPTL Clinic, including: course planning and teaching; curriculum development; individual case and project work; client selection; intensive supervision and mentoring of law students in representing clients; and clinic administration. Clinical faculty members also typically teach one non-clinical course per year in addition to the clinic.”  To learn more, visit the IPTL Clinic and read the job posting.