Ronald Weich, the longtime dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law, previously announced plans to step down after the 2023-24 academic year and then become dean of Seton Hall Law School in Newark, New Jersey. Appointed.
“I love this role,” Weich said of his position as dean. “I love being the leader of a company that produces public servants. This is a great pleasure and I am excited to use my experience as a lawyer to help the next generation effectively enter the profession. I feel that I am.”
Waihi spoke to the Daily Record about his 12-year tenure as dean, the future of legal education and the legal profession, and his new role as dean of Seton Hall Law School, which he will begin July 1.
(This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)
The Daily Record: What is your proudest accomplishment or moment during your tenure?
Ronald Weich: What I am most proud of is that the School of Law is in a stronger and more stable position than when I arrived, and that is reflected in many aspects of the School. The number of registrants has been stable. … We got the school size right, the faculty size right, and now we have the right number of students. We have a strong pool of applicants and graduates who are ready to succeed. They have great legal career opportunities in this community and beyond.
I am very proud of the accomplishments of our faculty and students. Our teachers do an amazing job not only in the classroom, but outside of it as well. They are leaders in their field. They contribute to the intellectual life of this law school and the wider community. … [Our students] We have had great work and over the years our firm has become an integral part of the legal community not only in Baltimore, but in Maryland and the region. …Across government, the private sector, and the judiciary, certainly the University of Baltimore is making its voice heard.
TDR: What are your priorities as dean and how has the school responded to these priorities?
RW: When we opened (the John and Francis Angelos Law Center), it was obviously a very bold, modern, light-filled building. I said then, and I've stuck to this: “The buildings we offer our students are as modern and exciting as the buildings themselves.” And we I think we achieved that. Even after several years of declining enrollment and a smaller school, we were able to build programs that didn't exist before.
The University of Baltimore has always been a very hands-on school, and today being a hands-on school means teaching students to function effectively in a highly technological environment. The curriculum is more interdisciplinary than ever before. We work collaboratively with other aspects of the university and with other disciplines to ensure that our students thrive in a world that increasingly demands interdisciplinary solutions to legal problems.
TDR: What unexpected challenges have you faced as a dean?
RW: Although we did not expect a global pandemic to occur, we feel that our school has weathered this situation. …For almost two years, we adapted to that very difficult situation, and then we were very happy to return to this wonderful building and establish ourselves as a face-to-face law school.
We continue to address bar traffic issues. We want to improve the passing rate of the bar. We've had ups and downs over the years. Although we have improved more recently, we must continue to focus on this as it is a very important metric for law school success.
TDR: Where do you think legal education is headed? What does the future of legal education look like?
RW: We need to leverage artificial intelligence in our curriculum and ensure that our students are ready to utilize this technology for the benefit of our clients. …Technology has advanced, and at each step along the way, legal education in general and the University of Baltimore in particular have adapted. I think this law school has been ahead of its time in many ways. Big data is a real problem in legal practice, for example, how lawyers can organize evidence from existing databases. We developed the Legal Data and Design Clinic to help students learn how to work with datasets to influence change, drive policy, and benefit clients.
TDR: What can law schools improve on?
RW: These are very turbulent times in our democracy and legal system. …For law professors, addressing current events in the classroom is an interesting challenge and opportunity. We need to do that, and students want to see connections between their education and what they see in the news. Many students enter law school because they want to be part of the solution. From orientation to enrollment, I tell students that we must protect and improve our democratic institutions. No system is perfect, and certainly our system needs many improvements, but at the same time there are fundamental precepts that require advocacy, the inhabitants of our democracy, and lawyers are It is the front line of defense and therefore law students play a vital role. To protect our democracy.
TDR: How do you plan to approach leadership at Seton Hall Law School?
RW: I have learned a lot in my more than a dozen years as law school dean, and the University of Baltimore in particular has taught me a lot. I learned not only from my faculty and staff colleagues, but also from my students and the lawyers and judges I interacted with in the broader world. Bring it all to Seton Hall.
TDR: What are Seton Hall's priorities?
RW: In early conversations with my soon-to-be new colleagues, I learned that Seton Hall addresses and faces many of the same issues that the University of Baltimore faces. … I think you'll find a lot of similarities, so we're going to bring the same priorities here that we have here: student success, ensuring we have a great faculty culture, making sure we connect with law school alumni. in a way that is best for the school and the students.
I expect to be the same kind of law dean here that I was here. I feel like I've had quite a bit of success at the University of Baltimore, and I hope to have similar success at Seton Hall.
I'm going to miss Baltimore and I'm going to miss the Maryland bar. I will miss this school very much. I'm quitting because it's time to quit, not because I'm dissatisfied with something. We'll be watching closely to see how things play out here. I am sure that we will have a wonderful new dean.
Whoever comes here in my place will be an important new chapter in the life of this law school. The law school was founded by him in 1925 and will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary. This is a great opportunity to recognize what this law school has accomplished and someone to take it to the next level.