Exposing the Imposter: Imposter Syndrome & Legal Writing Faculty

Legal academics often report crippling feelings of insecurity and inadequacy, symptoms of a widespread trend labeled as “imposter syndrome.” Experts have defined this phenomenon as a “deep and sometimes paralyzing belief that we have been given something we didn’t earn and don’t deserve and that at some point we’ll be exposed.” Given the evident hierarchies in legal academia, these feelings are especially prominent among legal writing faculty, and even more so among those in untenured positions. Using empirical data acquired from law professors, this presentation will analyze the prevalence and causes of imposter syndrome among legal writing faculty and will evaluate the detrimental impact this can have on legal writing teaching, relationships with doctrinal faculty, student mentoring, and scholarship. This presentation will further propose steps that can be taken both by legal writing professors and law school faculties to mitigate the growing presence of imposter syndrome in legal academia