A couple of well earned transitions:

Luz Herrera is to move to UCLA Law School as Assistant Dean for Clinical Education, Experiential Learning and Public Service.

As UCLA put it:

She is a Harvard Law School graduate whose bicultural upbringing exposed her to the needs of low-income communities in Los Angeles and Tijuana.  Her post-law school experience includes serving as an associate at a large law firm, starting her own law firm in Compton, and, most recently, holding a tenure-track position at Thomas Jefferson and serving as a visiting professor at UC Irvine School of Law.

Luz has a national reputation in the clinical community, particularly for her work in developing the Small Business Law Center and Solo Practice Incubator Program at Thomas Jefferson, which help graduates understand how to set up and run their own small firms.  Her connections to a wide range of community partners, her experience in building clinical programs and her teaching experience, especially in the transactional area, offer a unique set of perspectives for our students and faculty.

In summary, Luz has the blend of practical and theoretical wisdom that lies at the heart of the UCLA School of Law, and we welcome her as a colleague.

Great news for legal education, in a time of major and positive changes

Similarly, Susan Ledray, longtime and transformative head of self-help services in the Minneapolis courts, which also provides state-wide distance services, is moving to become Hennepin County Examiner of Titles.  Again, as put in the court announcement:

For the past fifteen years, Susan has overseen Fourth District and Statewide Self Help Centers, developing and promoting services for self represented litigants appearing in the  Minnesota Courts.  She has been a has been a leader in establishing pro se/pro bono systems at the District and State levels of the Minnesota Judicial Branch as well as across the country.
 
Susan excels at engaging people and organizations in identifying pathways to positive change. She led through the challenging statewide expansion of Self-Help services and conversion to electronic filing. Also to her credit are a number of improvements for the courts, including the creation of countless forms and instructional materials, an extensive expansion of the Fourth District website, and the development of a highly competent staff working with a very diverse clientele.
 
In addition to her work with pro se and self-help services, Susan has also overseen Family Court and the Domestic Abuse Service Center, and occasionally served as a referee in the Hennepin County Housing Court.
 
In her new role, Susan will utilize her extensive experience in a broad array of legal fields, management, supervision, court administration, judicial process, and public speaking. Hennepin County is extremely fortunate to have such an outstanding individual join their team. She will most certainly be missed by all of us in the Fourth District!

I suspect that we will be seeing some wonderful changes in how titles are examined, first in one county, and then, as with Susan’s other work, nationally.

More generally, it is great to see innovative folks whose lives embody a broad view of access to justice getting recognition and rewards.  It shows just how much the system is changing.

Correction:  In an earlier version of this post, I incorrectly stated that Gary Bellow had started clinical education in the US at UCLA.  That is wrong.  It was at USC.  However my general observation, that it is great to see someone with the perspective of Gary and Jeanne Charn at UCLA remains valid.