“I look forward to Professor Miller’s leadership as Touro Law continues efforts to provide opportunities for students and graduates who wish to pursue careers in solo and small practice,” stated Dean Patricia Salkin. “Seventy percent of American lawyers in private practice are in solo or small firms and trends demonstrate more and more interest in solo and small firm practice. While we have innovative programs already in place, there is great opportunity for Touro Law to continue its leadership in this area by building a model curriculum for students who intend to open their own practices.”

Professor Miller will work to ensure that Touro Law students are afforded the most cutting-edge curriculum and hands-on learning opportunities to prepare them for the realities of solo and small firm practice. She will host information sessions for students, identify speakers and adjuncts for programs and courses, and build relationships with alumni and practicing attorneys. In addition, she will collaborate with coordinating attorneys at the incubator, build a curriculum for incubator attorneys and assist in transition plans for those attorneys. She will take the lead in developing synergies between Touro Law, the incubator and the legal community.

Both the concentration and the incubator fit within Touro Law’s new Portals to Practice curriculum   providing a multi-dimensional approach for students to learn while gaining hands-on experience to ensure graduates are practice ready. This concentration is an integrated program of instruction that incrementally immerses students in the skills development required for entering solo or small practice.

Touro Law opened its incubator, the Community Justice Center of Long Island, in November of 2013. Since its opening, the incubator has helped graduates launch their solo practices through mentorship and training, while assisting the attorneys in developing law firms that are both financially sustainable and professionally satisfying.  More recently, Touro Law launched a concentration in solo and small practice. The concentration was developed to provide students with the business and entrepreneurial skills and basic doctrinal legal knowledge they will need to start their own practices.  Professor Miller’s primary role will be to find ways to mutually benefit both the incubator attorneys and the students enrolled in the concentration. For example, the Touro faculty recently approved a 1-credit course in Ethics for Solo and Small Firm Practice, which is required for students in the concentration.  Prof. Miller will look to bring the incubator attorneys into the classroom to bring the ethics to life and, at the same time, provide ethics training to the incubator attorneys, who will ideally get CLE credit for their participation.

Fred Rooney, Director of the International Justice Center for Post-Graduate Studies at Touro Law noted, “This kind of commitment from Touro Law is unprecedented and will have a profound impact on the legal education offered to students and the support and guidance offered to alumni. It’s the first such appointment of its kind in the country to my knowledge and is sure to help Touro Law emerge as a leader in providing exceptional educational opportunities for students and support for graduates in solo and small practice.”

Dean Salkin stated, “I believe that Touro Law Center is at the forefront in legal education and practical application for students who are interested in solo and small practice. I look forward to continued developments at the law school and successes for our students and graduates.”