Professional Identify Formation: What It Is and Why It Matters

The concept of “professional identify formation” came to the fore in 2007, when the report Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law[1] was published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching . Commonly known as the Carnegie Report, it determined that preparation for the profession required three apprenticeships. The third of these was “concerned with providing entrants to the field effective ways to engage and make their own the ethical standards, social roles, and responsibilities of the profession, grounded in the profession’s fundamental purposes.”[2] This concept became known as “professional identify formation.”

Further defining professional identity formation

Since 2007, many scholarly articles have been written about professional identity formation. Many of them look at what professional identify formation is and how it could be taught in a law school setting. Then, in 2022, the American Bar Association required American law schools to include the development of professional identity in their curriculum. In setting this requirement in section 300(b)(3) of its Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools, the association included the following interpretation:

Interpretation 303-5

Professional identity focuses on what it means to be a lawyer and the special obligations lawyers have to their clients and society. The development of professional identity should involve an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice. Because developing a professional identity requires reflection and growth over time, students should have frequent opportunities for such development during each year of law school and in a variety of courses and co-curricular and professional development activities.[3]

Confused? Maybe it would help to list what professional identity formation is not:

• It is not a course in professional responsibility as it relates to the lawyer’s Code of Conduct.
• It is not just learning about reflective practice.
• It is not just learning about cultural competency, cultural humility, or other equity, diversity, and inclusion concepts.
• It is not solely developed by participating in experiential learning opportunities such as clinics.

Clear as the rule against perpetuities, right?! An article by Marni Goldstein Caputo and Kathleen Luz, senior lecturers at Boston University School of Law, helped me understand the concept of professional identity formation. In “Beyond ‘Hard’ Skills: Teaching Outward- and Inward-Facing Character-Based Skills to 1Ls in Light of ABA Standard 303 (B)(3)’s Professional Identity Requirement,”[4] the authors break down professional identity formation into two sets of skills: outward-facing and inward-facing.

Outward-facing and inward-facing skills

Outward-facing skills include interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. Interpersonal skills are the skills needed to build relationships not just with clients, but with everyone the lawyer is in contact with. Interpersonal skills include empathy, reflective and active listening, questioning skills, and teamwork which requires collaboration, problem solving and conflict resolution.

Inward-facing skills include morality, purpose, well-being, mindfulness, reflection, self-evaluation, self-regulation, stress management, and a growth mindset. These skills further include the ability to understand ones’ role in the legal system and one’s responsibilities to clients and the legal system.

Why professional identify formation matters

As you can see, the skills needed for professional identify formation touch on all aspects of legal practice and can be incorporated into all forms of legal study. But why are these skills so important to learn?

Caputo and Luz identify many benefits to professional identify formation:

• Empathy helps lawyers communicate with and advise clients.
• Outward-facing skills support lawyers in demonstrating good practical judgment.
• Outward-facing skills help lawyers understand the interplay between the client’s needs and the lawyer’s role.
• Inward-facing skills help lawyers remain neutral and objective.
• Inward-facing skills help lawyers balance their values with their role as a lawyer.
• Inward-facing skills help lawyers avoid burnout, health problems, and professional errors by supporting well-being and mindfulness.

Professional identify formation in law school and beyond

In a profession facing challenges with civility and mental health, a focus on professional identify formation in law school and beyond should not be postponed by a lack of understanding of what it is. Professional identify formation can’t be taught in one course or piecemeal. Its development takes time, opportunities, and commitment from both students and educators. The process is worthwhile, though, because it leads to many advantages for lawyers — and those they serve.

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[1] William M. Sullivan, Anne Colby, Judith Welch Wegner, Lloyd Bond, and Lee S. Shulman, “Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law” (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass , 2007).

[2] Ibid at page 5.

[3] American Bar Association, “Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools” (United States: American Bar Association, 2024) at page 21.

[4] Marni G. Caputo & Kathleen Luz, Beyond “Hard” Skills: Teaching Outward- and Inward-Facing Character-Based Skills to 1Ls in Light of ABA Standard 303(B)(3)’s Professional Identity Requirement, 89 Brook. L. Rev. 809.