Professor of Lawyering Skills
The University of California, Irvine School of Law invites applications for a full-time Lawyering Skills faculty position, in the university’s Professor of Teaching Series, with security of employment or potential for security of employment, to begin on July 1, 2027.
UCI Law, founded just 17 years ago, is the newest public law school in California and is highly regarded for its faculty and expert training for the modern practice of law. Committed to values of public service, excellence in scholarship and teaching, and fostering a diverse, inclusive community, UCI Law is home to distinguished faculty and talented, socially conscious students.
The UCI Law Lawyering Skills program, ranked sixth nationally by U.S. News and World Report, offers an innovative and rigorous six-credit, two-course 1L curriculum. Lawyering Skills I and II cover legal research, analysis, writing, problem-solving, client interviewing and counseling, negotiation, drafting, fact investigation, and professional identity development.
Both the fall and spring courses involve regular individualized interaction with students throughout the year, with multiple opportunities for formative and summative assessment. The 1L Lawyering Skills course also incorporates an interviewing experience in which students work with pro bono and government organizations to observe organizations’ client interviews and to conduct interviews under observation. Responsibility for coordinating rotates among lawyering skills faculty members, but the Program Manager handles most logistics.
Beginning spring 2026, the Lawyering Skills Program is piloting different Lawyering Skills II courses which students may select:
1. Lawyering Skills II: Pretrial Advocacy
2. Lawyering Skills II: Business and Legislative Drafting and Advocacy
3. Lawyering Skills II: Lawyering to Change the Law
The ideal candidate will be will develop and teach at least two of these courses (not in the same year).
The anticipated teaching load is one section of Lawyering Skills (fall) and one section of Lawyering Skills II (spring). Additionally, the candidate will teach one additional course considering curricular needs and in consultation with the Associate Dean for Lawyering Skills and the Vice Dean. Appointment, merit, and promotion in the Professor of Teaching series requires excellence in teaching and service as well as outstanding and externally recognized contributions in research/creative activity in pedagogy and/or the discipline.
We look for talented faculty with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who wish to make a difference within an extraordinarily collaborative environment. Minimum requirements: a J.D. from an ABA-accredited school, and demonstrated potential for outstanding teaching and scholarly achievements; at least three years of practice experience are strongly preferred. Candidates must submit application materials using UC Irvine’s online application system, AP Recruit (https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10309).
Please direct questions about this position to the search committee co-chairs, Cindy Thomas Archer (carcher@law.uci.edu) and Shauhin Talesh (stalesh@law.uci.edu).