Law School Deans, Law Schools, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues, Patton Boggs

Musical Chairs: From Patton Boggs Partner to Brooklyn Law School Dean

Going from a law firm partnership to a law school deanship is an unusual move. What’s behind Nick Allard’s career shift?

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As one Biglaw partner makes plans to leave Brooklyn, putting his $10 million mansion on the market, another partner is packing his bags for Kings County. Nick Allard, chair of the lobbying and election law practice at Patton Boggs in D.C., is heading for the Heights: he’ll be the new dean of Brooklyn Law School, effective July 1.

Going from a law firm partnership to a law school deanship is an unusual move. What’s behind Allard’s career shift? A desire to be closer to Sarah Jessica Parker, who is apparently Brooklyn bound?

Let’s find out….

It seems that Allard just wants to be in academia — which shouldn’t come as a shock, given that he’s a Yale Law School grad. Before landing the Brooklyn job, he was a finalist for the deanship at the University of Baltimore’s law school (as we noted in Morning Docket).

Here’s what Allard had to say to The Hill, which broke the news of his move:

Some people wonder how in the world I could trade in working on a daily basis with Tom Boggs, Ed Newberry, Ben Ginsberg, Jeff Turner, John Breaux and so many others in the original and top policy firm in the galaxy. It ain’t easy. But the opportunity at Brooklyn Law School is irresistible because it is at the forefront of 21st-century legal education.

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It’s also on the receiving end of a lawsuit by disgruntled graduates, as noted by the National Law Journal. On the brighter side, though, BLS just got some big donations (a total of $2 million, from Dennis Block of Greenberg Traurig and real estate magnate Jeffrey Feil).

Although he’s never been a full-time law professor, Allard has academic chops. From his Patton Boggs bio:

Mr. Allard is a prolific author on a broad range of issues, including more than 20 articles on Internet law, new media and privacy. He contributes to and is on the advisory board of several legal publications, including the Hastings Communication and Entertainment Law Journal and the Shidler Center’s e-journal, Journal of Law, Technology & Art, at the University of Washington School Of Law. Mr. Allard also speaks frequently before professional and academic audiences throughout the United States and abroad.

Mr. Allard taught for several years as an adjunct professor at both George Mason University Law School and the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. He is a frequent guest lecturer on university and college campuses and holds several major alumni leadership positions at Princeton University, Oxford University and the Rhodes Scholarship Trust.

They say that running a law school can be like herding cats, due to the diva tendencies of certain law professors. But if anyone can manage and massage a collection of giant egos, it’s a former Washington lobbyist.

Best of luck to Nick Allard in his new post.

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Patton Boggs partner becomes Brooklyn Law dean [The Hill]
New dean’s lobbying chops may come in handy at Brooklyn Law [National Law Journal]

Earlier: Morning Docket: 03.26.12

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