ALWD Virtual Front Porch

Erin Lain

Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion and Professor of Law at Drake University

on

Integrating Social Justice into the LRW Classroom

Thursday, January 14, 2021

 

The Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) was honored to host Erin Lain, J.D., Ph.D., Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion and Professor of Law at Drake University, for a Virtual Front Porch presentation. Professor Lain’s presentation spoke to the concept of Inclusive Leadership and Community Building, drawing on her 2018 article “Racialized Interactions in the Law School Classroom: Pedagogical Approaches to Creating a Safe Learning Environment.”  The session gave concrete strategies for leading and facilitating challenging conversations in our communities. 

 

Professor Lain attended Drake University for undergrad, law school, and her doctoral work. She teaches in the area of legal writing, race and the law, criminal law, social justice, and academic success. She has published a book on leadership entitled Follow the Leader, and co-authored the second edition of No One is Above the Law: The Story of Southern Iowa's Federal Court. She publishes in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion, with a focus on diversifying the legal profession. She was named as one of the 2020 Des Moines Business Record Forty under 40, and she recently received the Gertrude Rush Award for demonstrating leadership in the community and in the legal profession, as well as a concern for human and civil rights. Annually, she holds trainings and CLEs in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, diversity, and equity and inclusion. It was a privilege to partner with Professor Lain for this event.