Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership
The Holloran Center’s mission is to provide innovative interdisciplinary research, curriculum development, and programs focusing holistically on the formation of both law students and practicing professionals into ethical leaders in their communities.
The Center is at the forefront of a growing national movement focused on greater intentionality in the professional formation of law students. The Standard 303(b) and (c) accreditation changes approved by the ABA House of Delegates on February 14, 2022, are a major step forward for the national social movement.
Our goal is to help every law school take gradual and effective steps to foster each student's growth to develop a professional identity.
Contact
Email
holloranctr@stthomas.edu
Law Student Well-Being Updates
How to Get Started
Get to Know the Holloran Center
Holloran Center professors and fellows provide national leadership on empirical research to assess which pedagogies are most effective to help students with formation of an ethical professional identity.
Since its founding in 2006, the Holloran Center has focused on this mission of helping the next generation of lawyers form professional identities grounded in a deep commitment of service to others.
Donations
Gifts to the Holloran Center should be made out to the below address:
Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions
Mail MSL 400
1000 La Salle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Please reach out to Felicia Hamilton, Holloran Center Coordinator, with any questions.
Review Changes to Standard 303
The Standard 303(b) and (c) accreditation changes approved by the ABA House of Delegates on February 14, 2022, are a major step forward for the national social movement.
Explore Our Tools and Resources
See Our Research and Training
The Holloran Center offers research and training in professional development formation.
Roadmap for Employment
Coach Training
Professional Formation Research
Get to Know the Holloran Center
Holloran Center professors and fellows provide national leadership on empirical research to assess which pedagogies are most effective to help students with formation of an ethical professional identity.
Since its founding in 2006, the Holloran Center has focused on this mission of helping the next generation of lawyers form professional identities grounded in a deep commitment of service to others.
Donations
Gifts to the Holloran Center should be made out to the below address:
Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions
Mail MSL 400
1000 La Salle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Please reach out to Felicia Hamilton, Holloran Center Coordinator, with any questions.
Review Changes to Standard 303
The Standard 303(b) and (c) accreditation changes approved by the ABA House of Delegates on February 14, 2022, are a major step forward for the national social movement.
Explore Our Tools and Resources
See Our Research and Training
The Holloran Center offers research and training in professional development formation.
Roadmap for Employment
Coach Training
Professional Formation Research
A lifetime of service and leadership
Remembering Tom Holloran (1929-2024)
“The School of Law that we know today would not exist without Tom Holloran,” said University of St. Thomas President Rob Vischer. “His stature in the Twin Cities community gave it instant credibility, and his dedication to cultivating meaningful relationships shaped its culture. Tom was a remarkably effective and beloved teacher because he taught the same way he lived: with unmistakable authenticity and integrity. The model of leadership he offered was a great gift to the world.”
Celebrate Tom Holloran's life and contributions
Funeral Mass for Tom Holloran
A funeral mass will be celebrated at the Basilica of St. Mary on Saturday, May 18, 2024. There will be a visitation from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., followed by the funeral from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Lunch will be hosted starting at 12:30 p.m.
Please see more information on the Basilica website.
Professional Identity Implementation Blog
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A Student’s Reflection on Professional Identity Formation
By: Jordan Bracewell, Mercer Law School When I entered law school, my goal was to learn as much as I could so that I would make a great attorney. What I had in mind was learning the sort of knowledge gained from a textbook or by perfecting an oral argument, but being an attorney requires more. Law school has given me the tools to cultivate the intentional professional identity necessary to become a great attorney. Mercer Law encouraged me to reflect on and form my professional identity starting 1L year with a required three-hour course, The Legal Profession. While cultivating a professional identity can include a constellation of virtues, Mercer emphasizes six necessary professional virtues: competence, fidelity to the client, fidelity to the law, public spiritedness, civility, and practical wisdom. The Legal Profession helps first-year law students learn the six virtues through various reading assignments, including The Formation of Professional Identity and Bryan Stephenson’s Just Mercy, listening to presentations on the virtues, participating in group discussions and exercises, and meeting practicing attorneys and judges. Class exercises were particularly beneficial because they gave me an opportunity to be placed in hypothetical scenarios and see the importance of each virtue while recognizing […]
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What About Us? How Law Schools Can Help Historically Underrepresented Law Students Develop Their Professional Identities
In a forthcoming article for Mercer Law Review, Holloran Center Associate Director David Grenardo presents a critically important perspective on the ways that historically underrepresented students face obstacles to their professional identity formation. Grenardo provides context around why these issues can seem insurmountable to staff and faculty, and explains why it is crucial to tackle them head-on: structural biases in law school stall the academic and professional development of historically underrepresented students. He closes with practical, solution-oriented suggestions around mentorship, academic support, and experiential learning that would create an environment in which all students are welcome. The article abstract follows. You can also read a draft of the entire article on SSRN. The revised ABA Standards require law schools to provide substantial opportunities for law students to develop their professional identity. An individual’s professional identity as a lawyer consists of one’s personal identities integrated into who they are as a professional. Gaining a professional identity means going from an outsider to an insider in that profession, and a law student’s professional identity formation refers to the process of evolving from law student to lawyer. Law schools must dive into the murky waters of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation because […]
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The Holloran Center in the News
by Felicia Hamilton, Holloran Center Coordinator Jerry Organ, Associate Director of the Holloran Center, earned recognition as one the Top 20 Most Influential People in Legal Education by the National Jurist. From being a major player in the conversation that led to the revision of ABA Standard 303 to presenting at conferences on legal education and wellness around the world, Organ has been making major strides to advance professional identity formation and well-being for law students. More details on this nomination are forthcoming upon the release of the National Jurist’s spring edition. – Neil Hamilton, Founding Director of the Holloran Center, was featured in the winter edition of the National Jurist. The article “What best prepares you for the practice of law?” by Sherry Karabin discusses the importance of experiential education. In this article, Hamilton is quoted regarding methods that encourage the thoughtful development of professional identity: “We think it’s…important that…educational experiences are coordinated in a progressive engagement of guided reflection over three years with the help of faculty and staff coaches.”[1] – Co-Director of the Holloran Center, David Grenardo, was interviewed by USA Today about the history of nepotism in the NFL prior to the 2024 Super Bowl. Drawing […]
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Remembering Tom Holloran
Tom Holloran (1929-2024) was a giant in the Twin Cities. With his death on February 15, 2024, he leaves behind a legacy in the business, legal, religious, public service, and academic spheres. Holloran, a humble and service-oriented leader, fostered trust and confidence in everyone he worked with. He was instrumental in the founding of the University of St. Thomas School of Law and the namesake Holloran Center. The Holloran Center would like to share the below articles and obituaries about Tom Holloran so that our national community can learn more about the man who inspired our mission and our work. Obituaries “The School of Law that we know today would not exist without Tom Holloran”: Read the story in the University of St. Thomas Newsroom here. “He is someone who was truly a servant leader”: Read the Star Tribune memorial here. “Servant-leader and mentor”: Read the University of Minnesota Law News article here. Tom Holloran in his own words “It’s only when you have the opportunity to look back over your life, that you may realize some of your greatest opportunities came because of adversity”: Read a 2011 profile and interview with Tom Holloran here. “I owe my very existence […]
Learning Outcomes Database
This database contains all of the learning outcomes available on law school webpages. We have identified those law schools with “basic” learning outcomes as well as schools with more robust learning outcomes than required by the language of Standard 302.
Holloran Competency Milestones
The Holloran Center Milestones are stage-development rubrics that describe the stages of development associated with each learning outcome. The Milestones for each learning outcome were developed by national working groups of faculty and staff from different law schools. A few were also developed internally at the Center.
Professional Development Database
This database identifies all the law schools with required first-year courses or programs focused on professional formation categorized by type of course or program. It also includes a searchable set of syllabi from those courses or programs when available.
Research and Training
Roadmap for Employment
Professor Neil Hamilton has developed and published a groundbreaking template for law students to use during all three years of law school in order to be fully prepared to find meaningful employment upon graduation.
Professional Formation Research
See data on topics like professional identity formation, developing fiduciary mindsets, increasing student well-being, and more.
Coach Training
One-on-one coaching is the most effective curriculum to foster a student's growth toward later stages of development on both legal education's foundational learning outcomes and the student's post-graduation goals.
The Thomas Holloran Legacy
The Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions is honored to have Thomas Holloran (1929-2024) as our inspiration and namesake. Holloran, who was a lawyer, a CEO, and a teacher, among other things, exemplified a unique model of servant leadership that combined excellence in business with a talent for mentoring