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Erin Lain
Professor of Law
Expertise: Race and the Law, Legal Education, Academic Success, Bar Exam
Education
Teaching Certificate in Higher Education Pedagogy, Harvard University
PhD, Drake University
JD, Drake University Law School
BA, Drake University
Experience
- Drake Law School professor since 2021
- Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Drake Law School, 2021-2025
- Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion, Drake University, 2017-2021
- Assistant Dean of Academic Services, Drake Law School
- Clerk, Hon. Celeste Bremer, magistrate judge, United States District Court - Southern District of Iowa
Selected Publications
- What Will Happen to CLEO in the Wave of Affirmative Action Litigation, 11 Belmont Law Review, 484 (2024)
- Onerous Disabilities and Burdens: An Empirical Study of the Bar Examination's Disparate Impact on Applicants from Communities of Color, 43 Pace Law Review, 205 (2022).
- Examining the Bar Exam: An Empirical Analysis of Racial Bias in the Uniform Bar Examination, 55 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 597, 600 (2021).
- I Think I Can: How Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulation Impacts Black and Latinx Bar Examinees, 10 Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality 113 (2022).
- Experiences of Academically Dismissed Black and Latino/a Law Students: Stereotype Threat, Fight or Flight Coping Mechanisms, Isolation and Feelings of Systemic Betrayal, 45 Journal of Law and Education 279-326 (2016).
Significant Accomplishments
- Order of the Coif for demonstrated excellence in legal education (2023)
- Des Moines Business Record 40 under 40 (2020)
- Gertrude Rush Award for leadership in the community and in the legal profession in the areas of human and civil rights (2017)
- CLEO Edge Award for significant accomplishments, or demonstrated commitments, to Education, Diversity, and Greater Equality in the legal profession (2017)
- Best Qualitative Research Poster Award, Iowa Educational Research and Evaluation Association Annual Conference (2015)
- Inducted into the William A. Blakey Diversity Pipeline Architects Group (2013)
- Student Bar Association Executive Board’s Dean Service Award (2013)
- Called to be True Blue Award for Excellence in Learning, Integrity, and Citizenship (2012)
Biography
Erin Lain is a professor of law at Drake University and a proud triple alumna, holding her undergraduate, law, and doctoral degrees from Drake. Her scholarship centers on legal education, academic success, diversity and inclusion in the legal academy, and the bar exam.
Lain served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2021 to 2025, working closely with faculty and staff to strengthen academic programs, enhance student support, and advance the school’s mission. Prior to that, she served as Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion for Drake University, where she led university wide initiatives to promote equity, belonging, and inclusive excellence.
A committed teacher and mentor, Lain has taught a wide range of law, graduate, and undergraduate courses and has been instrumental in developing academic success programs at Drake Law. She previously directed the Council on Legal Educational Opportunity (CLEO) Summer Institute, taught at Simpson College, and collaborated internationally with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative to train prosecutors and educators in Egypt and Lebanon.
Her publications include “Experiences of Academically Dismissed Black and Latino/a Law Students: Stereotype Threat, Fight or Flight Coping Mechanisms, Isolation, and Feelings of Systemic Betrayal” and “Emotional Intelligence: A Valuable Tool for Traditional and Non-Traditional Leaders.”
Lain was elected to Order of the Coif for demonstrated excellence in legal education (2023) and was recognized as one of the Des Moines Business Record 40 under 40 (2020). In 2017, she received the Gertrude Rush Award for leadership in the community and in the legal profession in the areas of human and civil rights and the CLEO Edge Award for significant accomplishments, or demonstrated commitments, to Education, Diversity, and Greater Equality in the legal profession. Her teaching and research have earned recognition including the Best Qualitative Research Poster Award from the Iowa Educational Research and Evaluation Association and Drake University’s True Blue Award for Excellence in Learning, Integrity, and Citizenship.
