Dean's Letter, Fall 2021
Effective November 8, 2023, Concord Law School was renamed Purdue Global Law School.
Dear Students and Alumni:
It has been just over a year since Concord Law School became fully accredited by the State Bar of California. I want to take this opportunity to share with you some of the changes that have happened at Concord since then.
New Faculty. First, Concord just hired three full-time faculty members, our largest single increase in at least a decade:
Quentin Huff will be serving as our inaugural full-time director of bar support. A graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law with substantial experience in both private practice and academia, Huff has spent the last 5 years as an administrator and professor at Wake Forest. He has served most recently as associate director of bar support and interim dean of students.
Lateefah Muhammad, who has taught at Concord this past year as an adjunct professor, will transition to a full-time role. Muhammad earned her JD from Florida A&M College of Law and recently earned her LLM in Business Law from Florida State University. Like Huff, she has significant experience both in law practice and teaching. Muhammad has also served in government as assistant general counsel for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Lori Tripoli has taught for the last few years as an adjunct for Concord and redesigned our Virtual Law Practice course. Before joining Concord, she had over a decade of experience as an instructor and department chair for Purdue Global’s Master of Science in Legal Studies program. Tripoli, a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, authored the book Contemporary Law Office Management.
In the past year, Concord has also added more than a dozen new part-time faculty to help us manage our JD program's growth since earning accreditation.
Academic Support. Second, Concord is expanding its academic support program. In May 2021, we launched a series of academic support workshops for second-term 1L students looking to improve their performance. In addition, David Cook, adjunct professor of law and senior writing specialist, made himself available for one-on-one academic support counseling sessions or essay reviews for 1L students. Starting in September 2021, we will not only continue the academic success workshops, but Cook will expand his counseling and review services for all students, including upper-division students.
Calendar Changes and Options. Third, Concord is completing the logistical changes that resulted from accreditation. We are currently teaching out our last 24-week term. Beginning in January 2022, all students will take three 16-week terms per year, and there will no longer be any overlaps or gaps between terms. In addition, now that we have been accredited for a full year, we have finally been given the green light to submit our request to the State Bar to approve a full-time JD program option. We are hopeful that the State Bar will decide on the petition by the end of the calendar year.
Student and Alumni Events. In May 2021, we held our first remote “regional” student and alumni mixer event, in which over 50 students, alumni, and faculty from 9 regions participated. We hope to have more remote and, circumstances permitting, in-person events in the coming months. On August 15, 2021, while I was in Washington, D.C., for Purdue Global’s graduation ceremony, I held our first in-person alumni event in years. In addition, the next “Coffee with the Dean” webinar will be held Thursday, October 7, 2021, at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET. I hope to see you then.
Thanks and all the best,
Martin Pritikin