Jennifer Mailly Named Associate Dean for Experiential Education at UConn Law

Jennifer Mailly brings more than 20 years of experience teaching and running field placement programs at the UConn School of Law as she steps into the role of associate dean for experiential education.

Associate Dean Jennifer Mailly

Jennifer Mailly will take over Aug. 1 as the associate dean for experiential education at the UConn School of Law.

Jennifer Mailly, an accomplished teacher and supervisor of experiential learning at the UConn School of Law, has been named associate dean for experiential education. Mailly’s tenure will begin on August 1, 2021.

“Dean Mailly is an excellent teacher who is committed to helping students obtain life transformative opportunities through experiential education,” Dean Eboni S. Nelson said, announcing the appointment. “I look forward to working with her as we continue to build upon the law school’s great legacy of excellence in clinical and experiential education.”

Mailly, a graduate of Ohio State University College of Law, has taught at UConn Law since 2000. Her courses have included Legal Analysis, Research and Writing, Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiation, and Civil Procedure. She currently serves as the director of the law school’s field placement programs. She established the law school’s immersive Semester in New York City program and helps run the Semester in DC program.

Since its founding in 2008, Mailly has directed the law school’s Summer Law Institute, a program supported by Robinson & Cole, LLP. The program introduces Hartford Public High School students to the practice of law through a mock trial.

Mailly will take over from Paul Chill, who has served as the first associate dean for experiential education since 2013. Chill began serving as associate dean for academic affairs on July 1, 2021.

“Dean Mailly is a wonderful choice for this role,” Chill said. “Her commitment to, and talent for, helping students learn from their experience—perhaps the single most important skill we can teach in law school—is unsurpassed. This is great news for our students and our school.”

Before joining UConn Law, Mailly was also an associate at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett in New York City and worked in the Labor and Employment Department of Shipman and Goodwin LLP in Hartford. Her specialties include clinical skills instruction, experiential learning, professional responsibility, legal research and writing, academic support, employment discrimination and education law.

“During this centennial year, I am particularly honored to be in the role of supporting, strengthening and expanding clinical, experiential and skills educational opportunities for our students,” Mailly said. “I look forward to working to ensure that UConn Law continues to excel in experiential education, engages all of its students in meaningful and rewarding legal work, and inspires in students a commitment to public service and addressing the needs of underserved communities and individuals.”

Before earning her JD, with high honors, from Ohio State University College of Law, where she served as managing editor of the Ohio State University Law Journal, Mailly graduated with highest honors from Brown University.