Erin Lain Profile

Associate Dean

Professor of Law

515-271-2040
erin.lain@drake.edu

Areas of Expertise

Race and the Law, Legal Education, Academic Success, Bar Exam

Education

Teaching Certificate in Higher Education Pedagogy - Harvard University
PhD – Drake University
JD – Drake Law School
BA – Drake University

Professional Experience

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs since 2021
Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion 2017-2021
Drake Law School professor since 2016
CLEO Summer Institute Director (2016, 2011)
Instructor at Simpson College
Director of Academic Success Program
Assistant Director of Admissions and Diversity Initiatives
Intern for Federal Magistrate Judge, Celeste Bremer

Selected Publications

• Examining the Bar Exam: An Empirical Analysis of Racial Bias in the Uniform Bar Examination, 55 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 597, 600 (2022).
• I Think I Can: How Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulation Impacts Black and Latinx Bar Examinees, 10 Ind. J.L. & Soc. Equal. 113 (2022).
• Experiences of Academically Dismissed Black and Latino/a Law Students: Stereotype Threat, Fight or Flight Coping Mechanisms, Isolation and Feelings of Systemic Betrayal, 45 J. L. EDUC. 279-326 (2016).

Significant Accomplishments

• Order of the Coif for demonstrated excellence in legal education (2023)
• Des Moines Business Record 40 under 40 (2020)
• Gertrude Rush Award for leadership in the community and in the legal profession in the areas of human and civil rights (2017)
• CLEO Edge Award for significant accomplishments, or demonstrated commitments, to Education, Diversity, and Greater Equality in the legal profession (2017)
• Best Qualitative Research Poster Award, Iowa Educational Research and Evaluation Association Annual Conference (2015)
• Inducted into the William A. Blakey Diversity Pipeline Architects Group (2013)
• Student Bar Association Executive Board’s Dean Service Award (2013)
• Called to be True Blue Award for Excellence in Learning, Integrity, and Citizenship (2012)