#147: William Treanor - Former Georgetown Law Dean

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where Professor Jonah Perlin interviews lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well.

Today's guest is William (Bill) Treanor, who recently stepped down as Dean of Georgetown University Law Center after serving for 15 years. Before Georgetown, Bill was a professor and later Dean at Fordham Law School for 20 years. His legal career began as a law clerk to Judge James L. Oakes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and as associate counsel during the Iran-Contra Investigations. From 1998 to 2001, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. Bill holds degrees from Yale University, Yale Law School, and a PhD in history from Harvard University.

In this episode, Bill shares valuable insights about the legal profession including:

🎓🔄 How a pivotal lunch conversation with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. changed his career trajectory and led him to pursue both a JD and PhD to maximize his impact on future generations [03:00]

👨‍⚖️🔎 How his experience working on the Iran-Contra investigation provided invaluable trial experience and showed him the importance of thinking on your feet in high-pressure situations [09:00]

⚖️👨‍🏫 How he unexpectedly transitioned from government service to academia when Fordham Law offered him a tenure-track position rather than the visiting role he initially sought [19:00]

📚🏛️ How his early teaching experience involved staying just one week ahead of his students in property law courses – demonstrating the importance of adaptability in legal education [21:00]

🌟🏢 How his decision to pursue a deanship was motivated by a desire for more tangible impact and the opportunity to work with teams to build institutions [24:00]

🎯🔄 How serendipity and a handful of phone calls played crucial roles in his career transitions, including his move from Fordham to Georgetown [32:00]

💰🎓 How his commitment to expanding access to legal education was inspired by his family history and led to doubling financial aid and creating opportunity scholarships at Georgetown [35:00]

🧩🔍 How the RISE program has transformed outcomes for students from backgrounds without exposure to law, with many becoming Law Journal editors and Student Bar Association presidents [36:00]

⏱️🔑 How the average law school dean tenure of four years is insufficient to make meaningful change, and why he advocates for longer-term commitments to leadership positions [41:00]

🌱💼 How new lawyers should remain optimistic, nimble, and hardworking while building and maintaining strong personal networks that will support both career advancement and personal satisfaction [45:00]

This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.