Law School Innovation Program
2024-25 program and finalists
The focus of the 2024-25 Law School Innovation Program is career resilience. Bloomberg Law asked law schools what they are doing to help students prevent burnout and build resilience for a fulfilling long-term legal career. Program evaluators reviewed innovations that address at least one root cause of burnout, either by better preparing students on their career path or by fostering change in the legal community. Innovations submitted for consideration were grouped into three categories – career pathing, technology, and well-being initiatives – and 10 finalists received the overall highest scores.
Industry experts
The evaluators for the Law School Innovation Program include practicing attorneys, legal tech and legal operations professionals, in-house counsel, and Bloomberg Law experts who have worked with and alongside law firms, businesses, and academic and professional institutions.
We look forward to receiving your applications for our Law School Innovation Program. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions that you may find helpful.
FAQs: About the program & eligibility
Programs, or “Innovations” must be run by U.S.-based, ABA-approved law schools. Innovations must also take place in the United States, so study abroad programs or programs that involve an element of studying abroad are not eligible. Further, Innovations must be apolitical in nature and not affiliated with any political organization in order to be considered.
- Providing meaningful and specific opportunities for diverse career path options, to better pair students with careers that match their skills, interests, and priorities;
- Engaging in partnerships with law firms or other employers to integrate real-life work into the curriculum, allowing students to “try on” a type of career;
- Promoting self-care and well-being to balance work stress and avoid unhealthy habits like substance abuse.
For purposes of this application, the term “Innovation” refers to the new/novel/unique approach to legal instruction the school has created, including but not limited to a:
- skill-based course;
- experiential learning program;
- partnership with legal employers;
- simulation pairing students with clients;
- modern technology;
- integrated instruction methodology;
- alternate innovative approach; or
- campus-wide program.
The Innovation should address at least one root cause of career burn out and show how it is working to eradicate that pitfall either by better preparing students on their career path or by fostering change in the legal community.
A panel of practicing attorneys, recent law school graduates, law school faculty and staff, and experts from Bloomberg Law will review and evaluate applications in order to determine how well the Innovations meet the stated criteria in the application. We will be evaluating what schools have done to change or improve the way law is taught or the way students approach their careers by looking at both the extent to which the submission is truly innovative as well as the extent of its impact or potential impact on the legal community.
Some of the benefits for finalists include: promotion in Bloomberg Law articles and on the Law School Innovation Program’s website, promotion on Bloomberg Law’s social media, a Law School Innovation Program finalist badge that can be displayed on the school’s website and marketing materials, among other benefits.
Additional networking opportunities, including participation in webinars and forums, and other benefits will be announced, as applicable.
FAQs: Submitting your program
Applications will be accepted starting in July 2025 through September 5, 2025.
The application is divided into three sections: (1) General Intake, (2) Written Responses, (3) Supplemental Materials (optional). Within the Written Responses, there are three separate questions. Note that the Supplemental Materials are purely optional to provide deeper context for the Innovation but will not be considered in scoring.
Applications will be accepting starting in July 2025. To be notified when submissions open, please leave your contact information in this form and we’ll send the application to you directly. You may also direct any questions to innovation@bloombergindustry.com.
We ask that applicants refrain from including confidential information in their applications. While we will not publicly release or distribute supplemental materials included with applications without permission, Bloomberg Law may use information from an application’s written responses to the prompts for promotional purposes if an Innovation is selected as a finalist. This may include, but is not limited to, quotes from faculty and students, data relating to the program, and professor/administrator titles.
Access to applications will be limited to the Bloomberg Law team members involved in the Law School Innovation Program and application evaluators.
Related Innovations that are distinct in nature can be submitted as separate applications. For example, if a law school has an Innovation with different courses or clinics incorporated, either the entire program may be submitted or separate applications may be submitted for individual courses.
It is important to note that only the most impactful Innovations will be selected as finalists, so in the aforementioned example, it may better serve the applicant to submit the entire program itself to be judged as a whole, rather than as separate courses. However, there may be valid reasons to separate out and highlight individual courses, and we welcome separate applications in those instances.
We may consider late applications under certain circumstances, but incomplete submissions will not be considered. We will audit submissions and make every effort to inform applicants if they are missing a required element.
No, but you can provide us with the contact information of the professor or program administrator, and we will reach out on your behalf to inform them about the application process. Please direct this information to innovation@bloombergindustry.com.
No, individual applications or personal information will not be publicly available. However, the finalists will be promoted in Bloomberg Law articles, on the Law School Innovation Program’s website, and in Bloomberg Law social media posts.
No, applying to the program as well as all associated promotional materials for finalists are free for all U.S.-based, ABA-Approved law schools. There is no cost to submit your Innovation or be included as a finalist.
The Bloomberg Law team is here to support you throughout the entire application process. Should you have any questions or feedback, you may contact the team at innovation@bloombergindustry.com. We are also happy to schedule a call to discuss your questions.
2024-25 program and finalists
The theme for this year’s Law School Innovation Program is career resilience. This year’s Program asks law schools what they are doing to counteract early career burnout and help students achieve healthy and robust legal careers long term. Schools may do this in a variety of ways, including but not limited to:
- Providing meaningful and specific opportunities for diverse career path options, to better pair students with careers that match their skills, interests, and priorities;
- Engaging in partnerships with law firms or other employers to integrate real-life work into the curriculum, allowing them to ‘try on’ a type of career;
- Promoting self-care and well-being to balance work stress and avoid unhealthy habits like substance abuse.
For purposes of this application, the term ‘innovation’ refers to the new/novel/unique approach to legal instruction the school has created, including but not limited to a:
- Skill-based course;
- Experiential learning program;
- Partnership with legal employers;
- Simulation pairing students with clients;
- Modern technology;
- Integrated instruction methodology;
- Alternate innovative approach; or
- Campus-wide program.
The Innovation should address at least one cause of burnout and show how it is working to eradicate that pitfall either by better preparing students on their career path or by fostering change in the legal community.
- University of St. Thomas, School of Law – Mentor Externship
- University of Oklahoma College of Law – Center for Technology and Innovation in Practice
- Albany Law School – Flex Juris Doctor
- University of California, Berkeley School of Law – Berkeley Law Leads
- University of San Diego School of Law – Developing the Whole Law Student Initiative
- Georgetown Law – Technology Law and Policy Scholars Program
- Brigham Young University Law School – Milestones Program
- University of California, Irvine School of Law – Happiness and Peak Performance Law Students and Lawyers
- Belmont University College of Law – Extended Enneagram Training
- Duquesne Kline School of Law – Law and Computing Concentration
- University of San Diego School of Law – Developing the Whole Law Student Initiative
- University of California, Irvine School of Law – Happiness and Peak Performance Law Students and Lawyers
- Belmont University College of Law – Extended Enneagram Training
- University of St. Thomas, School of Law – Mentor Externship
- Albany Law School – Flex Juris Doctor
- University of California, Berkeley School of Law – Berkeley Law Leads
- Brigham Young University Law School – Milestones Program
- University of Oklahoma College of Law – Center for Technology and Innovation in Practice
- Georgetown Law – Technology Law and Policy Scholars Program
- Duquesne Kline School of Law – Law and Computing Concentration