Welcome back to Ahead of the Curve. I'm Karen Sloan, legal education editor at Law.com, and I'll be your host for this weekly look at innovation and notable developments in legal education.

There was lots of news emerging from law schools last week, so I'm offering up an Ahead of Curve Lightning Round today, with quick takes on some of the things that caught my eye. That includes the University of Houston Law Center's decision to make its longstanding People's Law School an online-only program. We're also got the University of Chicago Law School offering a new accelerated J.D./MBA program, which eliminates a full year from the traditional joint degree timeline. I'm also checking in on a trio of deans who are stepping down at the end of the school year, as well as some sizable law school donations that will fund interesting initiatives. Read on!

Please share your thoughts and feedback with me at [email protected] or on Twitter: @KarenSloanNLJ

Pour One Out for the People's Law School

I always like seeing notices about law schools hosting a "People's Law School," which is essentially an opportunity for anyone to come on campus and get a primer on legal issues from training professionals for free. It's a nice way for the law school to really engage with the wider community.

So it caught my attention last week when the University of Houston Law Center announced that it held its final in-person People's Law School session this weekend, after nearly 30 years. The class is migrating to a completely online format. According to the law school, its People's Law School was the first in the country, and 55,000 people have attended the class since it debuted in 1991.

It makes sense for the program to go online: The school can reach more people that way, and I'm sure it's cheaper to produce the coursework one time and reuse it, instead of bringing in faculty and volunteer attorneys again and again for live classes. Still, it's a little sad to see the in-person component go away. I'm sure it was sort of cool for non-lawyers to walk into the law school, sit in a lecture hall, and get a little slice of the law school experience. It's not quite the same sitting behind a computer at home.

A (Prestige) Accelerated JD/MBA

Last week, the University of Chicago Law School announced that it's launching an accelerated program in which students can earn a J.D. and an M.B.A. from the university's highly regarded Booth School of Business in just three years, instead of the typical four. (Chicago already has a traditional four-year program.) Students pursuing the accelerated joint degree will have the option to get hands-on training at both schools, through the law school's Innovation Clinic and Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and lab courses at the business school. The program kicks off in the fall of 2020.

"The University of Chicago Law School and Chicago Booth are premier institutions in their fields, and an education combining both of them has no equal," said law dean Thomas Miles in an announcement of the new program. "The program's students obtain an immersive, interactive, and comprehensive legal and business education, and the opportunity to complete this in three years is extraordinary and exciting."

Deans Stepping Down

A trio of law school leaders announced in recent days that they are planning to vacate the dean's office at the end of the school year. The timing makes sense, in that it gives their campuses ample time to line up their replacements for the 2020-21 academic year.

Davison Douglas has led the College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law since 2009, but this will be his final year at the helm. He plans to return to teaching in July, after wrapping up a capital campaign that has thus far generated more than $81 million.

Margaret Raymond, who has been dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School since 2011, is also stepping down at the end of the school year. Like Douglas, she will return to teaching after concluding her time as dean.

"We survived the downturn in law school interest and enrollment and emerged stronger, with innovative new programming, a growing generation of excellent new faculty, and extraordinary, diverse, passionate students who inspire us every day," she said in an announcement.

Lastly, retired Tennessee Supreme Court Judge Gary Wade is retiring again—this time from the faculty of Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law. Wade has been running the Knoxville law school since 2015.

Big Money for New Programs

Two law school landed sizable donations recently. The University of California at Los Angeles School of Law announced last week that it has received a $1.3 million gift from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to bolster the school's Tribal Legal Development Clinic. The new funding will help the clinic pursue projects that improve tribal courts and law enforcement practices; develop youth courts; handle matters involving the Indian Child Welfare Act. The funding allows the clinic to hire additional staff.

Meanwhile, the Roger Williams University School of Law is expanding the work of its Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program thanks to a $1.2 million National Sea Grant, an agency that is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The funding will allow Roger Williams law students to work on initiatives that promote the growth of Southern New England shellfish aquaculture.

"This project will engage our students directly in helping Rhode Island shellfish businesses understand how legal requirements apply to them and in helping regulators modernize the rules governing this growing industry in the region," explained Read Porter, a staff attorney with the school's Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program.

Banking on a New Approach

The University of Cincinnati School of Law has partnered with the Fifth Third Bank of Cincinnati for a new fellowship program in which the bank hires two recent graduates to work in its in-house legal department for two years. My colleague Sue Reisinger has more details here, but it's a change of pace for the bank, which doesn't typically hire lawyers right out of law school, preferring instead to bring on laterals. But Chief Legal Officer Susan Zaunbrecher decided to try something new this year and bring on two freshly minted lawyers, with the idea that they can get some experience on their resumes, and that the bank might hire them on permanently if they excel. It's just the latest in-house experiment with hiring on new lawyers, which hasn't traditionally been how companies staff their in-house legal departments.

"I think there are lots of companies that could open up for one or two young attorneys who didn't get a break. You may find you've got real talent for the future," Zaunbrecher said.

Extra Credit Reading

➤ Embattled Emory law professor Paul Zweir is fighting to hang onto his job after a university investigation recommended he be suspended without pay for using a racial epithet on campus.

➤ Far fewer people are throwing their hats into the ring to become new law professors, thanks to a slowdown in the law faculty hiring and elevated credentials that law schools want.

➤ A new study from the Clinical Legal Education Association highlights the slow progress law schools have made in hiring minority clinical legal faculty. Meanwhile, the percentage of women clinical faculty has skyrocketed.

➤ AccessLex Institute has developed an online tool to help would-be law students decide what law school best fits their needs. The program relies on a detailed questionnaire to determine the user's preferences.

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I'll be back next week with more news and updates on the future of legal education. Until then, keep in touch at [email protected]