The incubator movement gets a big boost with Touro’s launch of its new International Justice Center for Post-Graduate Development, to be directed by Fred Rooney.

As put in the Center’s description, it’s components will include:

• Collaboration with the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services– The Center will work closely with the ABA to support existing incubator and residency programs for lawyers, to conceptualize new models that address the ever-changing unmet legal needs of people around the globe and support access-to-justice initiatives both at home and abroad.
• International Conference on Post-Graduate Legal Education, Spring 2014– The Center will cosponsor a conference with the ABA and other law schools to discuss recent trends in post-graduate legal education and to provide technical training and support to interested law schools, bar associations or other organizations interested in developing incubators or residency programs.
• International Support Center – The Center will solicit funding from United States government agencies  (State and Justice Departments, USAID, etc.), international foundations and bar associations to provide international students/professors/bar leaders and members of the judiciary with the training they need to successfully create post-graduate programs designed to increase access to justice.
• Expanded Clearinghouse Services and International Listserv– In conjunction with the ABA, the Center will compile and house reports, law review articles, books, articles and other materials that can be used by law schools in the process of developing their own post-graduate programming. A listserv that promotes the free flow of information among its subscribers will substantially enhance communication from institutions around the world.
• National Training Center– The Center will develop a national training component to provide technical support for domestic law schools/bar associations/state justice commissions and other organizations planning post-graduate programs designed to increase access to justice.
• Creation of an Incubator for Touro Law Graduates- Launching the Touro Law incubator to assist 8 – 10 Touro Law graduates over an 18-month period as they deal with the professional and financial challenges of establishing solo or small community-based firm or not-for-profit organizations. Ongoing Continuing Legal Education (CLE) classes geared to the needs of solo and small-firm practitioners will be offered.

The description document linked to above puts in the Center in the history of legal education innovation and the current needs of the legal system.

Given the energy with which Fred has helped spread this movement, it is surely likely that the Center will have a major impact in re-orienting legal education into a system that actually prepares law students and recent graduates for what is needed, rather than what will give them a tiny shot at an insecure financial jackpot.

It is particularly impressive to see the international focus — one that is surely growing in all areas of access to justice.