Self-Promotion #4: Faculty Exchanges and Workshops with Other Schools

One of the things that I have always done with my law review articles when they were in the process of being written is to share them with as many other scholars in my field (and especially with experts on the topic of the paper) to get their insights.  I have been very fortunate to work with scholars at other law schools who have given of their time freely and in a selfless manner no matter how busy they have been.  Indeed, I myself probably read and comment on about 5-10 law review articles a year from others which are about to be submitted for law review publication.  I believe this is an exceptionally important thing for new scholars to do as they try to find their own voice.  They need to gain the wisdom of those who have gone before them and these academic elders are usually very willing to help (so don't be shy!).

All that being said, engaging in these individual and sometimes reciprocal readings of one another's law review articles is probably not the most efficient way to promote yourself in the larger academy. In recent years, I have become a huge fan of the faculty exchanges and faculty workshops.  It works differently at different schools, but the basic concept is for a school to send some of its scholars to other schools to workshop their papers in front of a different faculty and get their feedback.  What is great is that you get to know a whole another group of law professors outside of your field and you get their fresh perspective about the merits of your paper.  And because they are not your colleagues who might have to pass you in the law school everyday, they are more likely to hold forth and tell you honestly how they feel about your work. Of course, especially if you did a good job, this is yet another way to get known by a whole another group of law professors.

These arrangements can be part of an on-going exchange that your school has, or such workshops might be more on an ad hoc basis and based on the interest of the faculty.  The experience of Marquette is that we have faculty exchanges with a number of schools on an annual basis and then we also leave open slots for one time shots from different schools where we don't have fixed relationships.  I have done one of each type of workshop this Fall semester and both have been worthwhile for different reasons.  The first one at Villanova as part of an on-going exchange allowed me to get some important feedback on a paper that was very much a work-in-progress. That talk and exchange allowed me to know what wasn't working with the paper.  On the other hand, I next went to Tulane on my own initiative, and this time with my paper a little bit more along the way, I was able to get additional feedback which I have already added to what I hope now will be a better paper.

Now, all of this is not to say that you shouldn't share your papers with your colleagues at your own law school for their input (you definitely should!).  And I know that with my paper referenced above, I will send it out to about five scholars who are particularly good on my area of interest when the time comes. But the great things about faculty exchanges and workshops is that you are in a win-win-win situation:  you improve your paper in the process, meet and learn about a whole new group of faculty, and consistent with Paul Horwitz's emphasis on institutional self-promotion, let other professors at these schools know about the exciting work that is coming out of your home institution.

Starting next week: Law & Society and Collaborative Research Networks

Paul Secunda