CEFLER Presentation at Regent Law Admitted Student Day

On March 23, 2018, Dean Natt Gantt and Professor Ben Madison had the opportunity to speak to a group of admitted Regent Law students who will start school this fall. They spoke on "Distinctives of the Regent Law Experience," discussing what Christian legal education looks like through an integrated curriculum.

The Center for Ethical Formation and Legal Education Reform (CEFLER) plays a part in this integration by supporting the Regent Law programming that seeks to develop the professional identity and ethical judgment in our students, including the following:

• Biblical Integration throughout the curriculum.
• Devotional time in each class.
• Courses such as Foundations of Law, Foundations of Practice, and Professional Responsibility, which include training on moral decision-making in the real world.
• Partnering with Regent's School of Psychology and Counseling for testing and vocational recommendations for students to help them discern their calling.
• A mentoring program to promote individual character formation and professional development through lasting relationships with lawyers and judges nationwide.

CEFLER was founded in 2012 after Gantt and Madison were influenced by a landmark report published by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The report, titled "Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Practice of Law," contends that law schools need to place greater emphasis on offering an integrated curriculum that cultivates students’ moral formation and understanding of what it means to practice law with professional and personal integrity.

In their presentation, Gantt and Madison referenced a quote from this Carnegie report: “Law school provides the single experience that virtually all legal professionals share. It forms minds and shapes identities.” Such positive forming and shaping is what CEFLER seeks to do: to produce lawyers who have an understanding of the nature and purpose of the legal profession and are committed to the ethical practice of law.