The William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has hired its inaugural Innovator in Residence as part of the Deanʻs Innovation Fund, which will allow Dean Camille Nelson to bring the type of innovative approach that drives business into legal education.
The Deanʻs Innovation Fund was created last fall with a $1 million gift from UH alumnus Jay H. Shidler to allow the dean to be strategic in supporting new and emerging ideas that address future-oriented challenges, especially relating to new technologies, and to incentivize and encourage faculty to explore bold new ideas.
Nelson recruited Matthew Stubenberg, director of Legal Technology at the Harvard Law School Access to Justice A2J Lab, to serve as the law school’s first Innovator in Residence for two years. Stubenberg will work with faculty, students, and staff and take on technology and justice projects.
“Stubenberg is a problem solver who believes technology can make legal services accessible to all,” said Nelson, who first brought Stubenberg to UH in 2021 to teach the law school’s first Coding for Lawyers class.
“It’s exciting to have Matt here now full time. He will have more time and capacity to take on advanced projects and engage our students with opportunities similar to those he provided at Harvard,” said Nelson. “Our students and other community members will benefit greatly from his data-driven approach to collaboration that furthers justice.”
Nelson has also recruited Richardson Law Professor Carol Petersen to serve as Director of International Programming, to further the law school’s mission of outreach and opportunity in the graduate degree space and to elevate international expertise and opportunities at Richardson Law.
Petersen has extensive experience in Asia. She taught law in Hong Kong from 1989 to 2006 and served as director of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Comparative and Public Law from 2001 to 2004. She joined the Richardson Law faculty as a visiting professor in 2006 and served as under a joint appointment as director and graduate chair of the Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution.
“Carol’s vast international expertise, including her experience living and working in Hong Kong are essential to helping us reach our goal of broadening global opportunities and expertise,” Nelson said. “Because of our geographical and cultural connections, having a strong global bridge to the Pacific region and beyond gives our students a unique skillset that enhances their education and future career opportunities in a shrinking world.
The William S. Richardson School of Law embraces Hawaiʻi’s diversity and values as part of its collaborative, multicultural community which prepares students for excellence in the practice of law and related careers that advance justice and the rule of law. The law school is marking its 50th anniversary in 2023. Its part-time program is rated #21 and its full-time program #91 in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of law schools.
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