Rutgers Law Associates Receives Insight Into Academia Magazine’s Excellence in Innovation Award
Today, Rutgers Law Associates (RLA) received the 2026 Excellence in Innovation Award: Law Schools from Insight Into Academia magazine, the nation’s longest-running publication advancing best practices in higher education. This new honor celebrates law schools redefining the future of legal education.
RLA was selected because of its experiential learning, workforce preparation, community impact, and institutional sustainability. Professor Andrew Rothman founded the program in 2014. It’s a first-of-its-kind, paid legal fellowship program that operates similar to a medical residency. In this innovative model, newly graduated lawyers serve real clients under supervision. RLA addresses the “practice-ready graduate” challenge facing law schools while providing affordable legal services to low-to-moderate-income communities often underserved by both free aid and traditional firms. This boutique law firm at Rutgers Law School, in both Newark and Camden, is open to any law graduate from an accredited ABA law school.
Professor Rothman said, “RLA has the capability to provide a level of skills training that neither traditional law school skills programs nor legal employers can provide. Most RLA Fellows conduct, individually, more than a dozen Superior Court trials in the course of their fellowship year, representing some of New Jersey's most vulnerable, traumatized citizens, all under the direct supervision of a highly experience law school educator and trial attorney."
RLA’s model is revenue-generating, self-sustaining experiential learning. The results:
- 100 fellows completed the program to date
- 97 were employed within a month of completing the program
- 1600+ low or low-moderate income clients served
- 150,000+ hours of high-quality pro bono or low bono legal service
- $2.2 million+ in grants obtained
RLA is also the most productive provider of legal services to victims of domestic violence and other crimes in New Jersey, and a major provider to people suffering from Substance Use Disorder. The program will be featured in the July/August 2026 issue of Insight Into Academia magazine.
Rutgers Law Dean Johanna Bond said, “I am thrilled that Professor Rothman and RLA are receiving this well-deserved honor. By preparing fellows to be practice-ready and expanding access to legal services, RLA’s work exemplifies our mission and positions Rutgers Law as a leader in innovative, socially responsive legal education. This recognition underscores the impact of a model that is both transformative for the law community and essential to the public good.”
“The Insight Into Academia Excellence in Innovation Award: Law Schools is a prestigious national honor recognizing law schools driving innovation in legal education,” said Holly Mendelson, co-owner and publisher of Insight Into Academia magazine. “This selective recognition celebrates programs defined by forward-thinking design and measurable impact—initiatives that raise the standard and advance the field.”
Through transformative programs and initiatives, selected schools are reimagining curriculum, experiential learning, technology and AI integration, access to legal education, professional pathways, and more to better serve the evolving needs of students and meet the changing demands of today’s workforce.
Two of the goals of the Rutgers Law Strategic Plan are to expand our capacity as a national model for student access and deepen connections with our communities. Click here to learn more.