Major projects
Law Library Enhancement Project
The Law School will undertake a $1.5 million renovation of the Leon E. Bloch Law Library, which will open 5,700 square feet of library space on the lower level immediately across from the classrooms for easy student access. Resources needed by first-year students will be consolidated for ease of access and located across the hallway from the classrooms housing most first-year classes.
The new space will include a state-of-the art technology classroom that will emulate the high-tech, collaborative environment in which practicing lawyers work. A new Learning Commons will facilitate seamless instruction in the use of books, documents, journals and electronic resources, providing a more realistic understanding of their value and limitations. Reference services will be expanded into the new space, making these services more accessible to students, alumni and community patrons. The more open and inviting design will make the library a gathering place for students, with a variety of spaces designed for flexible use. Also, an office will be created for our Academic Strategies Program, staffed by advanced teaching assistants, to help students strengthen their study, learning and collaborative skills.
Project impact
- Open and inviting design for students, faculty and visitors to research, study and learn
- Infrastructure conducive to attracting and retaining top students and faculty
- A state-of-the-art technology classroom
- Innovative Laptop Clinic located adjacent to the technology classroom
- Accreditation concerns pre-empted for our next site visit
Solo and Small Firm Incubator
For the past seven years, the UMKC School of Law has been working to address this need by providing meaningful learning opportunities for those entrepreneurial lawyers who decide to take the plunge into solo practice. Since 2004, the school’s innovative summer course and workshop program have provided substantial training in this area to more than 150 students. While this is a great start, it is not enough. Most graduates have little or no experience in running a law office and many are not ready to undertake such a task.
The UMKC School of Law Solo and Small Firm Incubator will make that next step easier for eight or nine new lawyers at any given time who are seeking to start their own firms. Located at 4743 Troost, the Incubator will provide office space at reduced cost to these lawyers. More importantly, it will provide the training and mentoring they need to be successful.
In addition, Incubator lawyers will be encouraged to provide legal services, to the extent they can, to those unable to pay. The presence of the UMKC Solo and Small Firm Incubator on Troost will help demonstrate UMKC’s commitment to serving its community.
