Douglas Sylvester

Douglas Sylvester recently was featured in the cover story of September’s issue of Arizona Attorney, in which Editor Tim Eigo interviewed him.

Sylvester spoke about the College of Law moving up in the ranks, pushing forward in a harsh economy, plans for an expansion in downtown Phoenix and what he thinks students look for in a leader.

The College of Law is the ranked No. 8 among public law schools in the nation, according to an annual survey by US News & World Report. Contributing factors include an upward academic trajectory of incoming students over the last four years, more competitive classes, and a commitment to a low student-faculty ratio. Sylvester noted that the credentials of incoming students over the last four years have improved each year.

Sylvester told Eigo that he plans to launch a nonprofit law firm, based in Phoenix, as early as 2013. The firm will offer more affordable legal services to the community, and jobs to recent law graduates.

Sylvester also said he hopes for The Arizona Center for Law and Society, will be finished in three or four years. The Center, in downtown Phoenix would house the College of Law and other legal entities. This, Sylvester said, would be a huge step in connecting the school with the community.

In response to a struggling job market, Sylvester spoke optimistically about the ASU faculty’s willingness to problem-solve where many schools might choose to cut back.

“The reason I like this job is everyone around here wants to find a way to fix the challenges, rather than just sit there, throw their hands up and go, you know what we should do, let’s cut our classes by 40 percent,” Sylvester told Eigo.

Sylvester ended the interview by giving his idea for the essence of a great education: having diversity in approach and opportunity, and letting students find their way.

“That way, when they walk out the door, they’ve got the biggest, most robust idea of what legal education has done for them,” he said.

Read the article here.