From the courtroom to the classroom

A version of this story first appeared in the Raise the Bar newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free by clicking here.

By Emily Kelchen | for Raise the Bar

When Richard Ramones was a kid, he wanted to be a high school history teacher. He ended up going to law school and working on CHS’s corporate compliance and international leadership team instead, but he has also found his way into the classroom at St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis. Today, he’s educating Raise the Bar about what it takes to be an adjunct professor. 

During the day you work as in-house counsel. At night, you teach a class on the role of in-house counsel. Does doing one automatically qualify you to do the other? 

I wish it were that simple. I started thinking seriously about teaching after guest lecturing in a class on the role of in-house counsel taught by Jonathan Broder at Temple. (Jon was the general counsel who hired me for my first in-house role, and has been an amazing mentor ever since.) I loved speaking to Jon’s class, so when I moved to Minnesota and my employer had connections to St. Thomas, I jumped at the opportunity to teach a similar course. 

I met with the associate dean of academic affairs, and with her guidance and support, I drafted a course proposal. A committee at the law school reviewed and approved it, then the real fun began!

That sounds like a lot of work. 
Take the amount of time and effort you believe it may take to prepare to teach a class and double it. The first year everything needed to be created from scratch. Lesson planning and ensuring the right amount of reading materials, drafting in-class hypotheticals and scenarios, preparing lesson notes, drafting written assignments for the class, lining up guest speakers. All that and preparing for and lecturing during class and reviewing and grading assignments throughout the semester took me 10 to 15 hours a week. After that first year, I was able to be more efficient by recycling some materials or improving upon others. I now spend approximately 6 to 10 hours a week on adjunct duties. 

Does your company view your adjunct work as a positive, or have you had to justify the time commitment?
Balancing teaching with work has its challenges, and I would not be able to pursue this professional and personal passion of mine without the support of leadership in our legal and compliance department. In fact some of my students’ favorite guest speakers have been my CHS colleagues!

I also believe teaching has helped me grow into a better business professional and lawyer.  The skills needed to digest and relay complex, legal, business and management concepts to law students are similar to the skills and experience I draw from to provide practical, efficient and business-driven advice to various stakeholders. 

And I have to ask, do you make a lot of money as an adjunct? 
I get a lot of joy and energy from it. And I keep all the “thank you” cards I have received from students—they’re a memento I will appreciate forever.

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Raise the Bar is curated and written by Emily Kelchen and edited by Bianca Prieto.