Description:
Mitchell Hamline School of Law - a leader in pedagogical innovation dedicated to expanding access to high-quality legal education - seeks qualified candidates for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position teaching and writing in the area of Business and Commercial Law. The successful candidate will help ensure sustained coverage of core business and commercial-law subjects, including bar-tested and transactional courses, while strengthening the law school's broader business-law curriculum. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2027.We welcome applications from candidates at all career stages and particularly encourage experienced teachers and scholars, including candidates who currently hold tenure at another institution or whose records may support appointment with tenure under Mitchell Hamline's standards. We seek candidates prepared to contribute to teaching, scholarship, faculty governance, curricular leadership, and the strategic development of the law school.
The successful candidate will teach foundational and advanced courses in business and commercial law, including core and bar-tested commercial-law subjects and transactional offerings. The faculty member will also contribute to curricular planning and program development, mentor students pursuing the Law and Business Certificate, support the Center for Law and Business's experiential offerings, and participate actively in faculty governance and institutional service.
We seek candidates who are available and enthusiastic about teaching across multiple modalities: in-person classes, synchronous online classes, and in our innovative blended learning program, which is the first and largest program of its kind in the country.
Mitchell Hamline's Center for Law and Business reflects the school's long-standing commitment to preparing students for leadership at the intersection of law, business, and public life. The Center supports students interested not only in corporate practice, but also in small business law, compliance, entrepreneurship, management, policy, economic development, nonprofits, social enterprises, and related fields. Through the Law and Business Certificate, students complete foundational business-law coursework, electives, practical experiences, advising, and engagement activities designed to help them build a coherent path through the business-law curriculum and into professional practice.
The Center is also in the process of reimagining its commitment to small and solo practice, with a particular emphasis on serving communities that have historically lacked meaningful access to legal representation due to geographic barriers or unmet legal needs. Many students affiliated with the Center for Law and Business are second-career professionals who bring substantial industry experience and entrepreneurial ambitions, including aspirations to establish and lead their own law firms or business ventures.
The Center also supports study abroad programs focused on international economic development and the role of law in a global economy. Past offerings have included comparative courses on trade and treaties in Germany and transitional justice and economic development in Kosovo. Future programs may include an international sports law negotiation practicum. Candidates may also have opportunities to contribute to these initiatives and to help prepare students to understand cross-border transactions, investment, regulation, and dispute resolution.
Mitchell Hamline is located in St. Paul, on the Indigenous homelands of the Dakota Oyate, at the center of a Twin Cities legal and business community that is especially attractive for faculty interested in business and commercial law. The region offers a deep and varied legal market, including corporate legal departments, financial institutions, major public and private companies, start-ups, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, private firms, legal services providers, and a highly engaged bench and bar.
Beyond its legal and business community, the Twin Cities offer a vibrant cultural and civic environment, with nationally recognized arts institutions, diverse neighborhoods, an active nonprofit sector, extensive parks and trails, and a strong tradition of public engagement. The region combines the professional opportunities of a major metropolitan area with a high quality of life, making it an appealing place to teach, write, mentor students, and collaborate with practitioners.
An appointment will be made either with tenure or on the tenure track. The anticipated annual salary range is from $105,000-$160,000 depending on qualifications and appointment. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including medical/dental/vision insurance and 403(b) to eligible employees.
Equity and Inclusion
We seek to recruit and retain faculty members who share our commitment to creating a welcoming and inclusive community aligned with the goals of equity and inclusion. Candidates may demonstrate this through: (1) legal practice or community service experience; (2) a scholarly approach that contributes to the legal system's impact on underserved groups; or (3) teaching that incorporates effective strategies for the educational advancement of students from underrepresented groups.
Minimum Qualifications:
Minimum qualifications include distinguished academic credentials, including a J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school and at least five years of practice and/or clinical or externship teaching experience. The successful candidate will demonstrate experience with fostering or the ability to foster an inclusive and equity-centered teaching, learning, departmental, and research environment where all can thrive.
Process
Candidates must submit:
- a curriculum vitae or resume;
- a two- to three-page cover letter that discusses their interest in and qualifications for the position and how their experiences in law practice, teaching, research, or community service have prepared them to contribute to our commitment to inclusivity, academic excellence, and the continued development of Mitchell Hamline's business and commercial law curriculum; and
- a list of publications and other substantial written work, together with a statement of scholarly interests and agenda. Under Mitchell Hamline's Tenure Code, scholarship may take many forms, including traditional law review articles, books, practice-oriented materials, amicus briefs, bar journal articles, policy work, and other substantial written contributions.
The committee will consider applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled. To be considered for our initial interviews, candidates must submit their application materials by Friday, August 21, 2026.
For questions about the application process, contact Professor Jim Hilbert, Appointments Committee Chair, at jim.hilbert@mitchellhamline.edu.