Alexander W. Scherr has been named the School of Law’s new associate dean for clinical programs and experiential learning. In this role, he will work to enhance and advance the school’s experiential learning offerings, which currently include 15 clinical courses and a range of simulation classes.
“Alex is a longstanding leader in the clinical legal education community,” said Georgia Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge.
“I know he will build on the good work that his predecessor Erica J. Hashimoto has done. His appointment aligns with the university’s mission to emphasize experiential learning, and this position is critically important at the law school as we pride ourselves on providing first-class training to the next generation of legal leaders. By ensuring our students have multiple opportunities for hands-on learning, we can ensure that they will be practice-ready and meet the needs of employers when they graduate.”
Scherr will continue former Associate Dean Hashimoto’s work to create new clinical opportunities and to increase support for clinical faculty and students. His new initiatives will include fostering collaboration with the university’s graduate and undergraduate programs, meeting new American Bar Association requirements for experiential courses and assessing the impact of Georgia Law’s clinics on local and state communities.
Scherr is the co-editor of the leading text for externship clinics, Learning from Practice: A Text for Experiential Legal Education, third edition (West Academic, 2016) for which he authored several chapters. He has served as president of the Clinical Legal Education Association, chair of the American Association of Law Schools’ Clinical Advisory Committee and as a member of the AALS Clinical Section’s executive committee. He chaired the planning committee for the 2015 AALS Clinical Conference that had more than 700 participants and over 200 presenters. He has helped to plan numerous other national and regional conferences.
