Paula J. Manning
Paula J. Manning
Professor of Law
Associate Dean, Student Learning and Assessment
Biography
Professor Paula Manning joined Detroit Mercy Law in 2021. She is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Student Learning & Assessment. She is a nationally recognized expert on academic success, legal pedagogy, and the teaching of professional skills in law school, and is co-author of Expert Learning for Law Students, a highly regarded law school success text.
Professor Manning is an innovative teacher, who incorporates skills and practical training into her courses. She is the author of the Torts text in the groundbreaking Context and Practice series, a law school textbook series designed to incorporate experiential learning and skills into traditional doctrinal courses. Professor Manning’s research and other publications focus on incorporating positive psychology into the law school environment—to improve law student well-being and combat stereotype threat.
She is a leader in her field—having served as President of the Association of Academic Support Educators, on the executive board of the AALS, Academic Support Section, as an instructor and regional consultant for CLEO, and on the board of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning. She is frequently invited to speak to law faculty around the country about teaching and learning. In 2021 she was awarded the AALS Academic Support Section Legacy in Leadership award for her contributions to the field of Academic Support.
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Courses Taught
Torts
Civil Procedure
Critical Lawyering Skills in Social Context
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Selected Publications
Twenty Years After a Turning Point: Legacies, Lessons, and the Unfinished Business of Institutional Denial and Heads and Hearts, (Michael Hunter Schwartz, co-author) J. of Leg. Educ. (forthcoming 2026)
Rest My Case: Sleep Science Should Inform J.D. Program Structures and Licensure Examinations to Enhance Performance, Equity and Well-Being, (Laura Mott, co-author) 27 Minn. J.L. Sci. & Tech. 1 (2026)
Materials and problems, University of Minnesota Libraries Civil Procedure opensource textbook (forthcoming 2025)
ABA SOURCEBOOK ON OUTCOMES AND ASSESSMENT, Chapter One (ABA 2025)
TORTS: A CONTEXT AND PRACTICE CASEBOOK, (Carolina Academic Press 2013; Rev’d Edition 2023)
Why Detroit Mercy Law Chose Criterion Referenced Assessment Over Grading Curves, (Michelle Richards, co-author) Volume 6, issue 3, Raising the Bar, Evidence Based Thinking About the Bar Exam, Access Lex (2023)
How to Train Your Supervisor, 42 Pace L. Rev. (2022) (Kris Franklin co-author)
Word to the Wise: Feedback Interventions to Moderate the Effects of Stereotype Threat and Attributional Ambiguity on Law Students, 18 U. Maryland L. J. Race, Relig. Gender & Class 99 (2018)
Expert Learning for Law Students 3rd ed. (with Michael Hunter Schwartz). Carolina Academic Press (2017)
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Selected Presentations
From Compliance to Culture: Leading Institutional Assessment Under Revised ABA Standards, ABA Associate Dean’s Conference (Jerome Organ, co-presenter) (2025)
Institutional Assessment Under Revised ABA Standards, SEALS 2025 Annual Conference (2025)
Experiential Education in the 1L curriculum, Experiential Education Workshop, University of Minnesota School of Law (Prentiss Cox, Debra Chopp, Lisa Dicker, co-presenters) (2025)
Teaching and Assessment workshops, LMU Duncan School of Law and Gonzaga School of Law (2025)
Getting Unstuck, Becoming Unstoppable: Elevate Your Career By Breaking Patterns that Hold You Back, Opening Plenary, AASE National Conference (Marsha Griggs, copresenter) (2025)
Academic Support and the New ABA Standards, AASE webinar (2025)
McGraw Hill Education podcast, Technology in the Classroom, Guest panelist (2025)
Criterion Referenced Assessment 2.0: Lessons Learned from Providing Grades Without Using a Curve, Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference (Cristina Lockwood, copresenter) (2025)
AALS Balance in Legal Education Writing Workshop, webinar (2025)
Using Criterion Referenced Assessment to Transform Legal Education, SALT Teaching Conference (Cristina Lockwood, co-presenter) (2024)
Incorporating Criterion Referenced Assessment into Legal Writing Courses, Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference (Cristina Lockwood, co-presenter) (2024)
Balance in Legal Education, Scholarly Works in Progress, AALS Annual Meeting, Discussant (2024)
Values, Principles and Practices that Support Professional Identity Formation and Improve Student Outcomes, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning Annual Conference (Michael Hunter Schwartz, co-presenter) (2023)
Measuring and Fostering Hope as a Means for Improving Academic Performance, Association of Academic Support Educators Annual Conference (2023)
Best Practices for Outcomes Assessment, ABA Associate Deans’ Conference (2023)
The Next Generation Classroom: Integrating Skills, Doctrine, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Well-Being, SEALS Annual Conference (Russell McClain, Rebecca Flanagan, Kris Franklin, Ryan Williams, co-presenters) (2023)
Words Matter: Incorporation of “Wise” Techniques in Critical Feedback for Better Learning Outcomes in Legal Research Curriculum, Video Presentation for American Association of Law Libraries Annual Conference (2023)
AALS Balance in Legal Education: 14 Day Writing Challenge, webinar series (2023)
Social Science Research Methods, (Moderator) AALS Annual Meeting (2023)
Categorizing the Causes of Student Underperformance and the Strategies for Academic Intervention, AASE National Conference (Louis Schulze, Rebecca Flanagan, Kris Franklin and Jamie Kleppetsch co-presenters)(2022)
New Scholar Development Webinar, AALS Balance in Legal Education Section (2022)
Bringing Modern Pedagogy to the Traditional Doctrinal Classroom: A Peaceful Resolution, Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting, Teaching Methods Section (2019)
It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right: Teaching Students to Seek and Find Great Supervision, AASE Annual Conference (Kris Franklin, co-presenter) (2019)
Expert Learning and Teaching, AASE Newcomer's Conference (2019)
Removing Institutional Barriers to Improve Bar Examination Outcomes, Invited Speaker, Access Lex Institute (2019)
Moderating the Negative Consequences of Stereotype Threat, Improving Motivation and Fostering a Growth Mindset, Washburn School of Law, Faculty Workshop (2019)
Autonomy Supportive Feedback: Mindset, Motivation and Mitigating Stereotype Threat, DePaul University College of Law, Faculty Workshop (2018)
Bridging the Gap Between Expert and Novice: Using Visual Mapping to Develop Critical Thinking and Writing Skills, New York Law School, Faculty Workshop (2018)
Commenting on Student Work to Maximize Learning, AASE National Conference, (Rory Bahadur, Kris Franklin and Kim Hawkins, co-presenters) (2018)
"Wise" Feedback: Moderating the Effects of Stereotype Threat on Law Students, AASE Diversity Conference (2017)
Feedback Interventions to Moderate the Effects of Attributional Ambiguity and Stereotype Threat on Law Students, University of Maryland Journal of Race, Gender, Religion and Law Symposium (2017)
Bridging the Gap: Practical Ways to Help Minority Law Students, AASE National Conference, Plenary speaker (Russell McClain and Courtney Lee, co-presenters) (2017).
The Modern Law Student, AALS Annual Meeting, Part-Time Student section (2017).
Expert Learning 2.0, AASE National Conference, Plenary speaker (Michael Hunter Schwartz, co-presenter) (2016).
The Feedback Whisperer, Teaching, Reaching and Nurturing Law Students, AASE Newcomers Pre-Conference (2016)
Assessment and Academic Support in the Law School Classroom, Ohio Northern University, Invited Speaker (2016)
Understanding the Impact of Inadequate Feedback, AALS Balance in Legal Education Section, Topic Call (2016)
Raising the Bar, Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting (2016)