National Appellate Clinic Network Named Finalist in Bloomberg Law’s Inaugural Law School Innovation Program

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s National Appellate Clinic Network was ranked among the 10 finalists’ programs recognized for innovation advancing the legal industry through education by Bloomberg Law. Several of the Law School’s other centers were also highlighted, scoring high in two categories.

Bloomberg Law’s inaugural Law School Innovation Program recognizes institutions for implementing and leading innovative programs into their curricula that advance new methodologies and approaches to student instruction, legal technology implementation and usage, experiential learning, and other facets of legal education.

“Innovation in legal education is key to keeping up with the demands of the legal market, and Northwestern Pritzker Law demonstrates its commitment to the future of the industry with its National Appellate Clinic Network,” said Joe Breda, president of Bloomberg Law. “Bloomberg Law recognizes Northwestern for its performance by naming them as a Law School Innovation Program finalist.”

The National Appellate Clinic Network is a collaborative project by the Law School’s Appellate Advocacy Center that brings together faculty and students from various law schools with the goal of advancing appellate clinic practice through the use of technology and shared resources. The network includes a database of hundreds of legal briefs and motions that are collected by network participants and is publicly available, allowing students and lawyers alike to use the resources, streamline their legal practices, and improve client representation.

“In many ways, appellate practice today looks a lot like it did before the merger of law and equity. It’s still largely a monastic undertaking, with practitioners poring over cases and writing their briefs in isolation,” said Xiao Wang, clinical assistant professor of law and director of the Appellate Advocacy Center. “I wanted to change that dynamic, by bringing technology to the forefront to connect clinical faculty, staff, and students through a shared, publicly available online database.”

Bloomberg Law received nearly 90 applications from over 60 schools across 25+ states that were evaluated by a panel of experts that included Bloomberg Law staff and those from outside the organization. Innovations submitted for consideration were grouped into six categories: technology, business, justice, experience, pedagogy, and student development. In addition to the 10 finalists, honorable mentions were identified in each category. Northwestern Pritzker Law snagged three of those as well:

Innovation & Pedagogy

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Master of Science in Law

Innovation & Experience

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Center for Practice Engagement and Innovation

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Innovation Lab

To check out a full list of honorees, click here.

Bloomberg Law combines the latest in legal technology with workflow tools, comprehensive primary and secondary sources, trusted news, expert analysis, and business intelligence. Their deep expertise and commitment to innovation provide a competitive edge to help improve attorney productivity and efficiency. Bloomberg Law is the only legal research provider to include continuous enhancements to its platform at no cost to existing subscribers. For more information, visit pro.bloomberglaw.com.

To learn more about Bloomberg Law’s Law School Innovation Program and the inaugural class of honorees, visit: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberg-law-analysis/analysis-bloomberg-law-announces-top-10-law-school-innovators.