A two-day national conference entitled “Jurisgenesis 2007:
New Voices on the Law” is being organized at the Washington University
in St. Louis School of Law. 

The conference scheduled for 18 and 19 June will be open
to a select group of new legal faculty participating from 11 schools with their
mentors.  The participants, who will present
their “works-in-progress” papers to associate deans and other senior faculty,
will benefit from the ensuing discussions and feedbacks on those from the
learned audience.  The conference aims to
provide the new law teachers with a chance to interact and learn not only from
their peers, but also from the experienced legal scholars.  These new faculties will present their
works-in-progress on topics such as criminal procedure, separation of powers,
and the costs and benefits of consumer financial education.

Professor Peter J. Wiedenbeck, associate dean of faculty
at the Washington
University in St. Louis
School of Law, hoped that the new law teachers will profit from the “informal
discussion” on their papers.  He also
said the new teachers will also enable them to take advantage of the feedbacks
received on their individual papers.

All teachers in the legal education nowadays present such
works-in-progress at other institutions. 
This growing practice also helps them keep abreast of the educational
standards as well as establish their legal learning in a public platform.  The Jurisgenesis conference will provide
these young faculties from all the participating schools “an accessible and
low-pressure entrée” to the legal arena. 

The 11 participating law schools are Loyola-Los Angeles; Saint Louis University; Washington
and Lee University;
and the universities of Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin.