Law Schools

Law School On Sixth Dean In Five Years

The most recent dean is leaving after less than two years in the position.

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University of Miami Dean David Yellen announced he’s stepping down from the position at the end of the month. He’s been at the position for under two years. And, for those keeping track at home, that means the law school will have six different deans in the last five years. Not a ton of consistency there.

Yellen told Law.com that it was his decision to leave the position he began in July 2022. And the university president’s message to the law school said Yellen will be returning to UMiami after a one-year sabbatical.

University of Miami President Julio Frenk sent an email Friday afternoon to colleagues, grad students, law students and the Miami Law community, saying that before everyone departed for spring break, he wanted to inform them that he had accepted Yellen’s resignation.

Yellen will be returning to the faculty following a year sabbatical, Frenk wrote, referring to Yellen as a “seasoned administrator.”

During his tenure, Yellen “laid the groundwork for Miami Law to fully embrace the University’s strategic priority of facilitating lifelong learning, with a planned expansion of online offerings,” Frenk wrote.

To take over the role of dean, the law school is looking outside of, well, the law school. Patricia Sanchez Abril, the interim dean of the graduate school since July and professor of business law at the Miami Herbert Business School, is taking on the interim role for the law school as of April 1. Which is somewhat outside-of-the-box thinking:

“It is a bit unusual for an interim dean to come from the university but outside the law school,” Jim Rosenblatt, dean emeritus and professor of law at Mississippi College of Law, told Law.com Monday. “An interim dean needs to have an understanding of the workings of a law school to be able to take over quickly and lead the law school.”

“Naming an interim dean from outside the law school indicates either that university leadership had special confidence in the outsider or that no one from inside the law school was willing to serve as the interim dean,” he added.

Patricia White served as dean of Miami Law from 2009-2019. And since her 10-year stint ended, there’s been a lot of turnover. Anthony Varona took the position after White, but was fired by President Frenk in July 2021. Two interim deans followed before Yellen took on the role in 2022.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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