Joel Nichols is a nationally recognized expert on leadership, legal education, and professional formation. As vice dean, he partners with the dean to provide leadership and strategy for all aspects of the law school. He has a particular emphasis on the student experience and journey—currently overseeing admissions, academic and student affairs, and post-graduation success, among others. Prior to joining the University of Alabama, he served for several years in senior law school leadership at the University of St. Thomas (MN). During his two years serving as interim dean (2022-24), the law school saw more than a 20% increase in JD applications, the highest new graduate employment percentage in the law school’s history, and the school’s best bar passage rate in 10 years. Under his leadership, the law school also met a 12-month fundraising goal within eight months (with the highest annual total in five years) and ranked among the Top 100 law schools nationally for the first time in the institution’s history.
As a thought leader in legal education, Vice Dean Nichols has given presentations to national gatherings of state bar leaders and supreme court justices, directors of attorney licensure, and law school deans. He has served in leadership roles for several sections of the American Association of Law Schools, including as chair of the AALS Section on Associate Deans; participates on accreditation site teams for the American Bar Association; and regularly engages with colleagues at conferences on professional identity formation, wellbeing, and the legal profession. He is a member of the Alabama Bar (also licensed in Minnesota and Texas (inactive)), and he enjoys engaging with state and local bar organizations and state boards of law examiners.
Vice Dean Nichols is also a Senior Fellow at Emory’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion and the author of dozens of publications. His most recent books include Research Handbook of Family Law and Religion (Edward Elgar Press, forthcoming 2026) (with Karin Carmit Yefet) and Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 5th ed. (Oxford Univ. Press) (with John Witte, Jr. and Richard W. Garnett). His writings have appeared in law reviews (such as NYU Law Review), theology and political science journals, bar and practitioner journals, and edited book collections with both university and popular presses.
Areas of Expertise: Family Law / Law and Religion / Leadership / Legal Education / Professional Identity & Formation