Prof. Maurer, William Pincus Award Winner

Professor Nancy Maurer was honored with the William Pincus Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Clinical Legal Education awarded by the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Clinical Section.

Maurer served as director of the Field Placement and Pro Bono Scholars Programs until she stepped down this year to begin her phased retirement. Throughout the pandemic, she worked swiftly to adapt the typically hands-on, immersive field placement program to the virtual world during the most difficult days of the pandemic.

She took inventory of all the placements and their restrictions and provided support and training to many supervisors who wanted to keep law students engaged but needed some help.

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, all of Maurer’s students completed their field placement and pro bono scholar program course requirements.

Remote work may be a permanent option for some organizations, especially those in more rural areas that may have previously required an on-site component.

“It’s really all about how to learn from experience and learning how to learn going forward. It’s a really unique part of education that students are making their own goals based on where they are, where they need to go, and where their possible interests might be,” she said.