Professor Sheila Reynolds Will Be Missed In The Law Clinic
Professor Sheila Reynolds will be leaving the Law Clinic at the end of this spring semester. She has requested phased retirement status and will continue her classroom teaching responsibilities. We would like to consider her as actually being in "phased" withdrawal from the Clinic as well. Even though she will not be teaching in the Clinic, she will still be just down the hallway to consult and continue to lend her expertise and experience.
It's hard to imagine the Clinic without Professor Reynolds. She began her clinical career in 1979 after serving as a legal aid attorney in western Missouri. At the time, Washburn was one of the first "live client" clinics in the nation. Many other schools, if they had any kind of practical or skills program at all, relied on role playing and simulation activities. Professor Reynolds has taught in the Clinic from 1979 to the present, even when she was Associate Dean from 1985 to 1991.
Professor Reynolds has focused her clinical practice on family law. Her students represent clients in divorce, paternity, custody, child support, guardianship, adoption and other family law matters. She is also the go-to person for all of the ethical challenges presented in the course of practice in the Clinic.
Professor Reynolds has mentored students taking their first steps into the world of law practice. She has patiently answered her students' most simple questions, explained the routine procedures of practice, assisted them in drafting their first pleadings, and repeatedly reminded them to look for their answers in the statutes. She has also lead her students through complex and cutting edge issues that would challenge the most experienced attorneys in domestic practice. Former students continue to call her for guidance long after leaving the law school and know they will find the same patience and expert counsel they received as interns.
Professor Reynolds has also mentored every Washburn faculty member now in the Clinic. Her wisdom and experience have been a constant, and we have come to rely upon her. Her active role in the Clinic will be missed.
