Dean O’Rourke Rises on National Jurist’s List of Most Influential People in Legal Education

The dean is recognized for her commitment to innovative program development at BU Law.

For the second consecutive year, Dean Maureen A. O’Rourke, has been named by the National Jurist as one of the top 25 most influential people in legal education. Dean O’Rourke rose nine spots in this year’s winter issue since her debut on last year’s list, putting her at #14 on the list of 25 for 2016.

Each year, the National Jurist opens nominations from US law schools and compiles a list of nominees. After narrowing the list to 48 individuals, the dean and a professor from each school are asked to rate them. The top 25 individuals are included on the annual list.

As dean, O’Rourke has worked to help BU Law keep pace with changes in legal education. Most recently, she fostered a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create the Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, and Cyberlaw clinical program, launched in fall 2015 with the Entrepreneurship & IP Law Clinic. The collaboration has brought MIT and BU student entrepreneurs and innovators together with future lawyers from BU Law to address the legal and regulatory compliance issues associated with their academic and extracurricular pursuits and their efforts to turn ideas into business. In its next phase, the program will add a Technology & Cyberlaw Clinic in which BU Law students will represent MIT students in matters involving litigation.

In 2015, Dean O’Rourke was elected to the board of directors of Access Group, a nonprofit that works to further access, affordability, and the value of legal education through research, policy advocacy, and direct member and student educational services. Following her five-year membership on the American Bar Association Council, she was elected vice chair of the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

Reported by Gianna Fischer (COM’17)