Leandra Lederman (Indiana), Making the Most of VAPs and Fellowships: A Guide for Law Schools and Aspiring Legal Academics:

This Article is intended for both (1) Visiting Assistant Professors and Fellows (collectively VAPs) who plan to go on the tenure-track legal-academic market, and (2) law professors advising VAPs or developing a VAP program. After examining how to distinguish among the various types of VAP positions, the Article discusses what types of mentoring VAPs will likely need in order to succeed in their various responsibilities. It also explains what documents and preparation faculty candidates will need to have to optimize their chances on the tenure-track legal-academic job market. The Article includes best practices for law schools hiring VAPs, as well as optimal times for providing various types of mentoring. It also includes a suggested timeline for VAPs who are aspiring tenure-track professors, so as to assist them in juggling their responsibilities to the host school with preparations for the tenure-track job market.

CONCLUSION
The time in a VAP position can pass very quickly, especially for someone preparing new courses while scrambling to write a compelling job-talk paper, line up academic references, perfect their C.V., and develop a research agenda. While VAPs can also seek out mentoring from other places, including at mooting programs put on by other schools or conferences, law schools hiring VAPs are perhaps best positioned to help those VAPs succeed. They should be cognizant of best practices in hiring and mentoring VAPs. Law schools can also assist their own alumni who are on the job market. Moreover, sometimes those are one and the same, as it is not uncommon for schools to sometimes hire their own alumni as VAPs.

The information and timelines in the Article should help VAPs pace themselves for the job-market’s deadlines and be better informed as to when to seek out guidance and who may be available to provide feedback on drafts and other mentoring. The timeline for law schools should help host schools provide timely mentoring on a schedule that doesn’t interfere with the periods that VAPs are busiest with the demands of the job market.