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SKILL SHARPENER
Switching legal careers: Texas’ Emerging Scholars Program is a bridge from prosecutor to professor [by Erica Winter] The University of Texas at Austin School of Law’s Emerging Scholars Program (ESP) bridges the gap between law school, or law practice, and the increasingly competitive world of legal academia. The two-year program allows fellows to get teaching experience while having access to tenured law faculty expertise in order to develop bodies of scholarly work.
Samuel Buell is the first Visiting Assistant
it would be “invaluable” to take that time to
Scholarly writing uses different muscles than
Professor and Fellow in the Emerging Schol-
develop his skills.
legal writing. The former is expounding on a theory; the latter, setting out an argument.
ars Program. While his professional résumé is impressive, he, like most practicing attor-
The ESP allows him to teach, attend col-
Scholarship is more abstract and broader
neys, did not have any scholarly publications
loquia, work on his research and writing, and
than argumentation, says Buell, which draws
to his name when he decided he wanted to
also to get feedback on his ideas from other
on a confined set of materials, most on the
change careers and enter academia.
faculty members. It is “ideal” to be able to do
relevant law on a particular issue. Academic
research and teach, which he enjoys a great
legal scholarship draws on law, but also on
Law professors used to prepare for the
deal. Buell taught federal criminal law this
historical economic, philosophical, and even
academic careers by being former top law
semester and will teach criminal law in the
psychological analysis of an issue. In this
students and excellent judicial clerks. Now,
fall next year. Being able to teach courses on
arena, the writer decides what is relevant
like professors in other disciplines, law pro-
law, and not on legal writing and research
to the inquiry, which is very challenging, ac-
fessors need a body of written scholarship
methods, was “really attractive to me,” says
cording to Buell.
to back them up in the pursuit of a tenure-
Buell. The Texas program “is a real preview
track teaching job. Texas’ ESP has fellows
of being a professor at a law school.”
take a half load of teaching courses for each
The transition from law practice to law teaching is a little smoother. Buell is able
semester. Fellows devote the rest of their
There are other fellowship programs and
to draw on his practical experience in the
energies the first year towards developing a
visiting assistant professorships out there.
courtroom and bring it to the classroom,
body of published work. For the second year,
Some do involve teaching, but most of those
describing to students real examples of legal
fellows work on teaching, publishing, and job
are classes on legal writing and research.
practice, such as examples of prosecutorial
hunting.
Some fellowships only come with research
discretion. The relevance of his work experi-
components and no teaching work at all.
ence to teaching is “all very immediate.”
After 10 years as a federal prosecutor, Buell
There are relatively few temporary law
had “reached the peak of what I wanted to
school jobs out there, and the positions are
There are other connections between Buell’s
do.” An alumnus of New York University Law
difficult to get. Still, there are more law
law practice and his academic career. As a
School, Buell started off as a prosecutor in
schools offering temporary positions, includ-
prosecutor, his job was to find the truth and,
the U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn, NY.
ing the Bigelow Program at the University of
on a more basic level, to achieve “the right
Then, he worked as a prosecutor in the U.S.
Chicago.
result.” Academics and professors also seek
Attorney’s office in Boston for four years and
truth, he says, and have a socially useful pur-
rounded out his work spending two years in
Since Buell is on a half schedule for teach-
pose. As for leaving behind his prosecutor’s
Washington, DC, on the Enron task force at
ing, he has time to develop his legal scholar-
career, “I was ready for a new challenge.”
ship. He currently has a manuscript for a law
Buell adds, “Career change can be a wonder-
review article on entity criminal liability, and
fully revitalizing thing.”
the Department of Justice. Buell had always been interested in teach-
he is researching his next piece on individual
ing; but considering he has been out of law
responsibility in white-collar crime. In addi-
school for 10 years and has a family, it “was
tion to having time to do research, Buell says
not feasible” to take a year off to do research
another draw to the ESP is that “the Univer-
and writing, and he could not take the time
sity of Texas law faculty is outstanding; it’s
to do it while practicing. So he looked for
one of the top law faculties in the country.”
temporary positions in academia, knowing
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