Hired Over Zoom, Incoming Dean Takes the Helm in Unprecedented Times
University of Virginia law professor Benjamin Spencer will take over the deanship at the College of William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law at an unprecedented time of uncertainty for the legal profession and higher education.
May 21, 2020 at 05:02 PM
7 minute read
Almost nothing was typical about the way in which Benjamin Spencer landed his new gig as dean of the College of William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law—a job he will assume on July 1.
Spencer did an in-person preliminary interview in early March just as COVID-19 began to emerge in the United States, and shortly thereafter the entire hiring process moved online. William & Mary announced Spencer's appointment this week, making him the first new dean appointment at a top 50 law school during the coronavirus pandemic. (He will also be the first African American dean at the wider university.) Spencer, who is currently on the faculty at the University of Virginia School of Law and is an expert on civil procedure and federal jurisdiction, is well aware that the job he is set to take over from longtime William & Mary law dean Davison Douglas will look quite different from the one he originally envisioned, thanks to COVID-19. Law.com caught up with Spencer May 21 to discuss his unusual interview process, what classes will look like in the fall, and what he has learned from moonlighting as an Army JAG. His answers have been edited for length.
Tell me a bit about the hiring process, and how that worked with everyone staying at home.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2How I Made Office Managing Partner: 'If You Are Aware of Areas for Improvement and You Can Play a Role in That, Speak Up,' Says Jennifer Mellott of Freshfields
- 3'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
- 4What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers
- 5Burns & Levinson to Wind Down After 64 Years in Boston
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250