Written by: Gloria Kosir

June Tai, clinical professor and director of Field Placement Program, received the second annual Compass Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Externship Committee. The award recognizes mentorship, leadership, and the cultivation of strong professional relationships in the externship community. We asked Tai some questions to learn more about her involvement and this honor.

What does it mean to you to be recognized with this award?

This award is meaningful because it represents recognition from colleagues and peers whom I admire and respect deeply.  I joined Iowa Law after many years of practicing law, and it wasn’t a natural transition. This is a group that helped me figure out who I wanted to be as a law school teacher and what I wanted my students to learn, and I so appreciate their support over the years.

You've been deeply involved in clinical legal education initiatives—what do you hope comes out of your contributions?

As a new clinician, the clinical legal education community—especially the externship directors at other law schools—welcomed me and provided substantial mentoring and training in clinical pedagogy.

I became involved in various national law school organizations such as AALS and the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) because I learned so much from the other faculty in those organizations. As the only field placement faculty member at Iowa Law, I appreciate being a part of a supportive community that is doing work like mine. We share teaching strategies, tackle difficult problems (such as teaching online during the pandemic), and compare experiences at our respective law schools.

Much of my work has been to contribute to the collective knowledge of the group and to continue fostering that supportive community.  In recent years, I’ve started to shift to advocating for the advancement of clinical education more broadly. I’ve learned more about the ABA accreditation process, have helped with some of the comments CLEA submits to the ABA, and am co-editing the only textbook dedicated to externships, Learning from Practice.  I’ve also been a researcher and board member for the Center for the Study of Applied Legal Education, which surveys law school clinic and field placement programs and the instructors teaching in them every three years. The resulting report documents the development of clinical education in law schools. 

How have you prioritized mentorship, leadership, and the cultivation of strong professional relationships as director of Iowa Law’s Field Placement Program? 

One of Iowa’s strengths stems from its identity as a public law school in a relatively small, close-knit legal market.  We have tremendously supportive attorneys here in Iowa, including many alumni. I enjoy connecting current students with our field supervisors for mentorship and training.

Our students regularly have opportunities to advocate for their clients in court, work side-by-side with attorneys in transactions, and gain insight to a variety of legal practice areas locally. For students interested in going further afield or working in a niche practice area, I have developed a network of colleagues across the country that can help provide insight as needed.

What role does mentorship play in shaping the future of the legal field?

Much of lawyering involves building strong relationships and connections. From my own practice experience, attorneys need to be able to give their clients bad news sometimes, and clients must be able to trust their attorneys during difficult times.

I worked on large cases that would last multiple years. This requires extensive teamwork and collaboration—both with other lawyers (within your law firm, with co-counsel, local counsel, and in-house) and with lay witnesses or expert witnesses. So, building and maintaining strong relationships is important to law practice overall. 

Also, the day-to-day aspects of law practice are somewhat hidden, particularly problem solving and decision making. When I teach, I tell my students that I am giving them frameworks for how to recognize these aspects of practice in order to accelerate the development of their professional judgment. This judgment will develop further when graduates enter practice and learn from the attorneys they work with.

What do you hope your law students carry forward after enrolling in a field placement?

Law is constantly evolving, and new graduates need to learn how to teach themselves new subjects as they emerge. They also need to understand who they are—their strengths, values, and interests—as they enter practice.

Attorneys make difficult decisions, often in gray areas or in times of uncertainty. These are skills that are difficult to make concrete in a classroom setting, and I hope that a field placement provides some context and preparation for that aspect of practice.