The chance to lead an elite law school located in a tech hotbed was too good to pass up for Karen “Kerry” Abrams, incoming dean at Duke Law School.

The university on Feb. 2 announced the appointment of Abrams, who is currently a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and vice provost for faculty affairs. On July 1 she will replace current Duke Dean David Levi, who is stepping down at the end of the academic year after 11 years in the position.

Abrams has been on the faculty at Virginia since 2005 and is an expert in family law and immigration law. We caught up with her this week to talk about her new gig, how technology is reshaping the legal profession and how elite law schools are faring in this tumultuous time for legal education. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.

What appealed to you about the Duke Law deanship?

There is so much going on in the Research Triangle with technology and innovation. The Duke Law faculty are really strong in those areas, so it seemed like a really exciting opportunity that would fit my interests and skills. I was really impressed by the faculty, the students, the loyalty of the alumni, and the opportunity to be at a law school that's really integrated into a great university. And the location.

Tell me more about innovation. What do you think Duke Law is doing right in that area?

One thing they are doing really well is working with the local business and technology community through clinics and partnerships around entrepreneurship and technology. That's an area a lot of law schools have been slower to enter into. When I talk to practicing lawyers—especially those at large corporations—data security and data privacy is a big booming area of law. I think law schools in general have been a little behind to catch up to that. I think Duke is ahead of the game there and poised to be a real leader.

Do you think Duke, as an elite law school ranked No. 10 by U.S. News & World Report, is insulated from the larger economic pressures on legal education?

I don't think any school is insulated from the economic pressures. We're seeing the same changes in the legal profession that we're seeing across all industries. As work has become more global and more automated, some of the things people in various professions—including law—used to do no longer have to be done by humans. Some of them no longer have to be done by a human in that physical place. That means the nature of the work has changed, and also the number of jobs has contracted. All of the schools are reacting to that. Obviously the elite schools are in a different position in a contracting market, in that their students are still in high demand, but I think it would be misguided to think that any school—including the ones at the very top—are insulated completely. We all have to think about not just what does the profession look like now, but imagining what it might look like in 10, 20, 50 years.

What will be your priorities as dean?

I have a list of general areas I want to focus on: Support for faculty research and scholarship; taking advantage of the relationship of the university to promote cross-disciplinary work; really listening to our alumni and employers about the changing landscape of the legal profession and making sure students are being prepared to meet those challenges. Also, thinking about how to augment our public services profile as a school and how to leverage our clinics and public service programs to better serve the Durham community and an increasingly global public. I think the school is in really good shape. A lot of my first year is going to be spent listening and observing and trying to figure out what it's doing well.

What was it like at UVA and Charlottesville, Virginia, last fall during the white nationalist rally and the aftermath?

It was devastating. It was really difficult to have our community attacked in that way. The silver lining was that I think it forced all of us to think about our past as a university and as a city. And think about how we could do better going forward. But it was terrifying. I had people marching down my street, in front of my house, shouting really hateful things. I didn't think I would see that in my lifetime, up close.