For a beloved faculty member who has been a fixture at Seattle University School of Law for a quarter of a century, it may be surprising to learn that Mimi Samuel initially arrived with every intention of leaving.
“Before this, the longest I had been in a job was four years. I moved to Seattle from San Francisco to teach at Seattle U. My plan was to get two or so years of experience and then go back to the Bay Area. That didn’t happen, and I couldn’t be happier about that,” she said.
Samuel’s presence has also worked out wonderfully for the many students she has taught, and for the law school, where she has cultivated a successful career as a talented and dedicated legal writing educator and innovator. As this academic year draws to a close, so will her 26-year tenure as an associate professor of lawyering skills; she officially retires at the end of June after spending the spring semester on sabbatical.
In late November, Samuel taught her last class as a career faculty member, where faculty and staff colleagues crowded into the classroom bearing gifts and flowers to express their respect for and appreciation of her long service.
“It was bittersweet,” she said of that moment. “I was delighted that I had such an engaged and hardworking group of students for my last class. It was great to go out on such a strong note.”
Those law students joined many others over the years who have Samuel to thank for helping them develop among the most useful skills of lawyers.
“Prof. Mimi Samuel had a profound impact on my legal education and law school experience, and I am forever grateful to her,” said Erin Shea McCann ’07, currently associate director of the law school’s Center for Professional Development. “She pushed me to be a more critical thinker, stronger researcher, strategic writer, and meticulous editor.”
Samuel’s arrival at Seattle U Law was set in motion after graduating from college, when she briefly taught high school civics before enrolling in law school at Georgetown. After practicing business litigation for two firms over eight years, she realized she needed to be back in a classroom.
Seeking a way to return to the profession, she began teaching as an adjunct professor at a law school in San Francisco, where she practiced at the time. “I chose teaching Legal Writing because it’s critical to give students practical skills. I enjoy watching their progress and witnessing their passion, both for the subject matter and for social justice. I’m always impressed with my students – their backgrounds, where they have been and where they are going,” she said.
Upon joining the law school’s faculty in 1999, the law school already had a strong Legal Writing Program. That strength was formally recognized when U.S. News & World Report began ranking such programs in 2007 and Seattle U Law received the top ranking in the nation.
“I really lucked out in getting this job in a place that has consistently been so well-regarded for legal writing,” she said. “The mentoring I received from Laurel Oates and other faculty members in the program was key to my success. The community within the Legal Writing Program and the entire law school was a big reason I stayed.”
With the retirement of several of the program’s long-time faculty members, Samuel stepped up to serve as co-director with fellow faculty member Janet K.G. Dickson in 2019 at the beginning of what turned out to be a particularly challenging few years.
“I’m really proud of taking Laurel’s legacy with the program and moving it forward during that time,” she said. “That was when COVID-19 hit, when we launched the Flex JD program, and when we had to hire new faculty after the retirements of a number of our long-term legal writing faculty. Janet and I were able to build on the program’s foundation that was handed off to us and lead it through a turbulent time. And we’re now passing it onto the next generation of faculty and leadership, who are a passionate and dedicated group of teachers and scholars.”
Samuel is also proud of her overseas work teaching legal writing to law students, lawyers, judges, and other legal professionals in countries across Africa and Asia. In 2011, Samuel was awarded a Fulbright Specialist grant to develop and teach the first Legal Writing class in Sri Lanka after its civil war ended.
About working with foreign legal professionals, Samuel said, “It is rewarding, because they see the value of what I’m teaching right away. It’s also fascinating to meet legal professionals from other countries and learn about their systems and approaches to legal education. I enjoy being on the ground floor with some of them, helping law faculties develop their own legal writing programs.”
As she transitions to retirement, Samuel plans to continue teaching an online legal writing course for law students and legal professionals from around the world. Not surprisingly, she plans to continue traveling, with a trip to Brno in Czechia [widely known in English as the Czech Republic] this summer to attend the 17th Global Legal Skills conference, followed by a trip to hike in the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria.
Because she has earned emeritus status, Samuel plans to remain connected to and active in the Seattle U Law community, even though she won’t be teaching.
“In most other jobs, once you leave, you’re done,” she said. “Academia, fortunately, is different.”