Mercer Law Professor Patrick Longan, holder of the William Augustus Bootle Chair in Ethics and Profesionalism, was named by the American Bar Association as the recipient of the second National Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching Professionalism.
Michael S. Greco, president-elect of the ABA, and the Honorable Norman Fletcher, Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, presented the award to Longan April 15 in New York City.
Law professors from three law schools were chosen as finalists to make presentations about their innovative professionalism programs on April 14 at Fordham Law School before a distinguished selection committee appointed by the ABA and the Conference of Chief Justices. Finalists were: Lisa Brabbit and Neil Hamilton from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, who described an intensively monitored mentor externship program; Longan, who has developed a new required first year course on the legal profession; and Lois R. Lupica from the University of Maine, who has radically redesigned an experimental small section of the required upper-level professional responsibility course.
