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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.

2026 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Holloran Center! We will host our first Annual Professional Identity Formation Conference and Awards Ceremony on April 24 - 25, 2026. Learn more about the event here!

Get to know the Holloran Center!

  • Get to Know the Holloran Center
  • 2026 First Annual Holloran Center Conference
  • Student Research and Service Positions
  • Rule of Law Initiative
  • Review Changes to Standard 303
  • Explore Our Tools and Resources
  • See Our Research and Training

    • Get to Know the Holloran Center

    Holloran Center faculty 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 the mission of helping the next generation of lawyers form professional identities grounded in a deep commitment of service to others.

    About the Holloran Center

    2026 First Annual Holloran Center Conference

    Join us on April 24 - 25th, 2026, to celebrate 20 years of the Holloran Center and Holloran Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, Neil Hamilton, as he retires.

    As part of the celebration, the Holloran Center is hosting an Awards Ceremony to honor and promote teaching innovation and scholarship related to professional identify formation.

    Learn more about the Conference and Awards here: Holloran Center Conference and Awards Ceremony.

    Student Research and Service Positions

    The Holloran Center offers several student employment opportunities in research and service. Our program, which includes Tourek-Marvin Peer Mentors, Tourek-Marvin Scholars, Shea Scholars, and Gherty Scholars, is guided by the mission of fostering student leadership and encouraging continuous, lifelong professional growth.

    University of St. Thomas students are encouraged to apply or inquire more about available opportunities.

    Learn More And Apply

    Rule of Law Initiative

    The Rule of Law Working Group is a joint enterprise of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and the “Pluralizing” Legal Professional Identity: Democracy, Equity, Justice, and the Law School Curriculum.”

    Learn more about the Rule of Law Initiative, the Rule of Law Learning Outcoming, and our upcoming Workshop on Professional Identity Formation and the Rule of Law in October 2025 by clicking the link below.

    Rule of Law Initiative

    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.

    About Standard 303

    Explore Our Tools and Resources

    See Our Research and Training

    The Holloran Center offers research and training in professional development formation.

    All Research and Training

    Get to Know the Holloran Center

    Holloran Center faculty 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 the mission of helping the next generation of lawyers form professional identities grounded in a deep commitment of service to others.

    About the Holloran Center

    2026 First Annual Holloran Center Conference

    Join us on April 24 - 25th, 2026, to celebrate 20 years of the Holloran Center and Holloran Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, Neil Hamilton, as he retires.

    As part of the celebration, the Holloran Center is hosting an Awards Ceremony to honor and promote teaching innovation and scholarship related to professional identify formation.

    Learn more about the Conference and Awards here: Holloran Center Conference and Awards Ceremony.

    Student Research and Service Positions

    The Holloran Center offers several student employment opportunities in research and service. Our program, which includes Tourek-Marvin Peer Mentors, Tourek-Marvin Scholars, Shea Scholars, and Gherty Scholars, is guided by the mission of fostering student leadership and encouraging continuous, lifelong professional growth.

    University of St. Thomas students are encouraged to apply or inquire more about available opportunities.

    Learn More And Apply

    Rule of Law Initiative

    The Rule of Law Working Group is a joint enterprise of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and the “Pluralizing” Legal Professional Identity: Democracy, Equity, Justice, and the Law School Curriculum.”

    Learn more about the Rule of Law Initiative, the Rule of Law Learning Outcoming, and our upcoming Workshop on Professional Identity Formation and the Rule of Law in October 2025 by clicking the link below.

    Rule of Law Initiative

    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.

    About Standard 303

    Explore Our Tools and Resources

    See Our Research and Training

    The Holloran Center offers research and training in professional development formation.

    All Research and Training

    Quick Reads about Standard 303

    Law Student Well-Being Updates

    L to R: Jerry Organ, David Grenardo, Steve Tourek, and Neil Hamilton

    Holloran Center Receives Major Gift to Support Professional Formation Among Law Students

    The Holloran Center is grateful to have received a major gift from Jake Marvin, former CEO of Marvin Companies, to establish the Steve Tourek and Jake Marvin Scholars Endowment. The fund will be used to engage students in interdisciplinary research and professional identity formation endeavors.

    Read more at the St. Thomas Newsroom

    Professional Identity Implementation Blog

    Save the Date: 2026 First Annual Holloran Center Conference and Awards Ceremony

    About the Event  The Holloran Center will be hosting a special gathering on April 24-25, 2026, to honor Holloran Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions Neil Hamilton as he retires and to honor the 20th anniversary of the Holloran Center. This event will represent the first annual Holloran Center Conference on Professional Identity Formation and is presented in partnership with the St. Thomas Law Journal as a symposium.   On Friday, April 24, we will host an invitation-only dinner to honor Professor Hamilton. On Saturday, April 25, the Conference/Symposium will take place during the day, with a Holloran Center Awards Ceremony in the evening.    Throughout the weekend, our speakers will include leading experts in professional identity formation. Committed speakers include Neil Hamilton, Barb Glesner-Fines, Lou Bilionis, Susan Brooks, Benjamin V. Madison III, Daisy Floyd, and Tim Floyd.   Following the Conference and Symposium, the St. Thomas Law Journal will publish an issue about professional identity formation that includes articles written by several of our speakers.  Registration for the Conference/Symposium and Awards Ceremony will begin at the end of October!  Awards  As part of the first Annual Holloran Center Conference, the Holloran Center […]

    • Living Our Professional Values Through AI

      by Luke Cheman, 2L at the University of St. Thomas School of Law As a law student, I have started using AI here and there – drafting memos for class, testing my legal knowledge, or just seeing what it can do. At first, it felt like learning a new tech trick. But I have realized it is more than that. Each time I practice with AI, I am also practicing the values that will guide me as a lawyer: responsibility, judgment, and growth. In other words, using AI is already part of learning how to live my professional values. The Holloran Center compares professional values to the trunk of a tree.[1] The idea is simple: values are what everything else grows from. For lawyers, one of the biggest branches on that tree is responsibility. That means serving clients zealously but fairly, respecting the legal system, helping improve the law, and making sure more people have access to justice. It also means being honest in negotiation, guided by conscience, and willing to help clients think through tough choices. When we add AI into the picture, it is not just about learning a tool – it is also about finding new ways […]

    • Professional Identity Formation As Theory and As Practice for the Education of a Lawyer

      A new article by Holloran Center Fellow Lou Bilionis and Co-Director Neil Hamilton, Professional Identity Formation As Theory and As Practice for the Education of a Lawyer, takes a deep dive Professional Identity Formation As Theory and As Practice for the Education of a Lawyer, takes a deep dive into the theory and practice of professional identity formation (PIF) in J.D. legal education. Building on nearly two decades of scholarship since Educating Lawyers, the piece argues that professional values are the driving force behind true excellence in developing legal skills. The paper examines why law schools have historically fallen short in cultivating the full range of values and skills new graduates need, and it also highlights the recent shifts prompting meaningful reform. Importantly, the article also offers practical guidance for faculty and staff on how to foster each student’s PIF, which is positioned to serve as the driving force behind the future of legal education. Here is a link to the article: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5387750 And here is the abstract: The past eighteen years of exploration and development regarding professional identity formation since the publication of Educating Lawyers make clear that professional identity formation is first and foremost a theory of J.D. […]

    • Holloran Center Workshop on Professional Identity Formation and the Rule of Law: October 24-25, 2025

      The Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law will host a Workshop on Professional Identity Formation and the Rule of Law on October 24-25, 2025, at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, MN. The Workshop will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 24 and conclude at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 25. Introduction and Rule of Law Materials Those involved in legal education in the United States have long assumed that law students, somehow, were implicitly grasping the importance of the rule of law and their special responsibility as lawyers to support the foundational principles associated with the rule of law. The last several years, however, have shown us that those involved in legal education must engage in greater collective intentionality to make sure law students understand the foundational principles associated with the rule of law and internalize their special responsibility to support the foundational principles associated with the rule of law. In support of this effort, the Rule of Law Working Group, a joint enterprise of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and the “Pluralizing” Legal Professional Identity: Democracy, Equity, Justice, […]

    • Delivering Bad News Exercise

      By: David A. Grenardo, Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, University of St. Thomas School of Law Lawyers, at some point, must deliver bad news to others, particularly clients. All humans, at many points in their lives, must also deliver bad news. Learning how to deliver bad news can help law students become better lawyers and better people. This blog includes everything you need to incorporate an exercise on delivering bad news into one of your courses. Professional identity formation (PIF), which is the process by which law students move from law students to lawyers, most readily occurs when law students are put into the role of attorneys. And PIF also requires reflection.[1] This exercise on delivering bad news includes both of those aspects. The University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, explores PIF in (among other places) three required one-credit 1L courses – Moral Reasoning for Lawyers, Serving Clients Well, and Business Basics.[2] Students participate in the delivering bad news exercise in Serving Clients Well. Framework Prior to class, assign the following reading, Delivering Bad News Well, by R. Lisle Baker & Jennifer List. Their article […]

    See More Blog Posts
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    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.

    Learning Outcomes Database
    The word "competence" is circled on a board.

    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.

    Holloran Competency Milestones
    Pixel art of a laptop showing the scales of justice.

    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.

    Professional Development Database

    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.

    Roadmap for Employment

    Professional Formation Research

    See data on topics like professional identity formation, developing fiduciary mindsets, increasing student well-being, and more.

    See the Research

    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.

    Coach Training

    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.