These days it has become more and more common for those who are interested in becoming law professors to pursue an academic “fellowship” first, spending 1-2 years in the academy reading and writing before going on the tenure-track job market. (As many as 78% of last-year’s tenure-track hires had a fellowship, according to Prawfsblawg.)
To that end, anybody interested in becoming a law professor should consider applying for one of the two fellowships at the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, run by now-Professor, once-Judge Michael McConnell. But I’m hardly impartial here: I worked as a law clerk for then-Judge McConnell, and am just finishing up a fellowship at the Center, which has been an incredibly productive experience.
While the Center’s fellowship program is still comparatively new, the four folks from the Center who have gone on the law-teaching market have done very well. Aside from me (headed to Chicago), they are Laura Donohue (now at Georgetown), Sam Bray (now at UCLA), and Nathan Chapman (now at the University of Georgia).
Here’s the call for applications (due September 15):
Stanford Law School and the Stanford Constitutional Law Center are pleased to announce that it will be seeking applications for two Academic Fellowships to begin the summer of 2014. Fellows must be committed to producing publishable research in constitutional law. It is expected that they will enter the job market for law teaching positions during the second year of the fellowship.
The Academic Fellowships are residential, full‐time, two-year positions (from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2016). Fellows are required to devote their attention to research and writing, and to contribute to the intellectual life of the law school. There are no teaching requirements, though in appropriate cases voluntary teaching opportunities may be available. Fellows are expected to attend events sponsored by the Center, and to help plan and execute a small number of events related to their field of expertise. They are also expected to engage with students, by mentoring Student Fellows and making themselves available to talk with other interested students at the Law School.
The Center provides each fellow with office space (though not necessarily a private office), a research and academic travel budget, a moving allowance, and a stipend of $60,000 plus benefits. Fellows will have access to the Stanford Libraries and the other resources of Stanford University.
Application details are on the Center’s website.