Natalie Rodriguez '12

Natalie Rodriguez serves as a Vice Dean, where she oversees the law school’s Online J.D. Program and plays a key leadership role in academic planning and innovation. A long-time advocate for access and student success, she has spearheaded efforts to expand Southwestern’s academic offerings through high-quality asynchronous instruction and online curriculum design. Dean Rodriguez was instrumental in developing Southwestern’s Online J.D. Program, which launched in 2024. As Co-Chair of the program's planning committee, she led efforts to translate the law school’s distinctive strengths into an innovative online format that upholds academic rigor while providing students greater flexibility. 

Dean Rodriguez was an early adopter of online teaching methods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a central role in training Southwestern’s faculty in distance education, leading workshops, individual coaching sessions, and the creation of online teaching resources. Her work has empowered faculty to integrate asynchronous methods into both online and residential courses.

Prior to becoming Vice Dean in 2025, Dean Rodriguez held several academic leadership roles at Southwestern, including Associate Dean for Academic Innovation and Administration and Assistant Dean of Academic Success. In her role overseeing Academic Success and Bar Preparation, Dean Rodriguez designed and taught a number of programs and courses to support students in achieving academic success, both in law school and on the bar exam. Dean Rodriguez is particularly passionate about helping students harness the power of cognitive learning theory to maximize the results from effective study habits. She also believes that the most successful students are those who are able to make the connection between academic and professional competencies early on in their academic journey. Her course design model, which uses a number of cognitive learning principles, has been used by other law schools seeking to create or enhance academic or bar support programs. "I have seen first-hand the difference a strong Academic Success Office can make in the culture of a school," Dean Rodriguez said.

Her research and service focus on increasing access to legal education, improving bar exam outcomes, and promoting the thoughtful integration of educational technology in law schools. She has been a leading voice in reimagining admissions practices, student support systems, and instructional delivery models to better serve a diverse and evolving student population. She is the co-author of More Than Numbers: Empirical Evidence of an Innovative Approach to Admissions, published in the Minnesota Law Review, which presents empirical data supporting holistic admissions practices as a pathway to greater diversity and student success. Her national presentations have addressed topics such as deliberate online pedagogy, the use of asynchronous tools to foster engagement, and the intersection of admissions policy and equity. She has served as a panelist and moderator for the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), and the Association of Academic Support Educators (AASE), among others. Her recent work includes contributions to professional development initiatives and regulatory discussions around bar exam reform and distance education compliance.

Dean Rodriguez has served on the executive board of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Academic Support Section and the Technology, Law and Legal Education Section, as the executive board for the Association of Academic Support Educators (AASE). She has also served on various committees, including AASE’s Bar Advocacy Committee. She has played an active role in many of the recent studies regarding the bar exam including the California State Bar studies as an Advisory Group Member for the “Performance Changes on the California Bar Examination” report as well as the national study “Building a Better Bar: Capturing Minimum Competence” by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS). She served on the California Supreme Court Blue Ribbon Commission for the Future of the Bar Exam, which made recommendations to reform California’s Bar Exam. Her legal practice experience is in Estate Planning and Probate.

Prior to joining Southwestern's faculty in 2012, Dean Rodriguez was active in numerous professional activities throughout her legal education. She served as a Judicial Extern to the Hon. Patrick Walsh of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and to the Hon. Frank Y. Jackson of the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Seven. She was also a Certified Law Clerk/Extern in the Sex Crimes Unit of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Before attending law school, Dean Rodriguez's background was in early education. She worked for several non-profit groups committed to supporting students from traditionally underrepresented groups experience the positive change a college education can make. Many of these students went on to become first-generation college and graduate students.  She continues to bring this passion for education as a form of change to legal education.