Natalie Rodriguez '12

Natalie Rodriguez is Vice Dean for Academics & Online Education at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, where she leads Southwestern’s Online J.D. Program, the first ABA-approved J.D. program delivered primarily asynchronously, with no on-campus residency requirement. She also oversees academic policy and planning across Southwestern’s J.D. programs. A long-time advocate for access and student success, she has expanded the law school’s academic offerings through high-quality asynchronous instruction and online curriculum design. Dean Rodriguez was instrumental in developing the program, which welcomed its first students in fall 2024. As co-chair of the program's planning committee, she led its design and application for ABA approval, translating Southwestern’s distinctive strengths into an online format that upholds academic rigor while giving students greater flexibility. 

Dean Rodriguez speaks nationally on building and sustaining quality in online and hybrid legal education. Her work in this area focuses on questions now facing law schools and regulators, including how online programs satisfy ABA accreditation standards, how to sustain meaningful faculty-student interaction in asynchronous courses, and how to protect assessment integrity as generative AI tools become widespread.

Dean Rodriguez was an early adopter of online teaching methods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her experience positioned her to play a central role in training Southwestern’s faculty in distance education, by leading workshops, conducting individual coaching sessions, and creating online teaching resources. She has continued that work by supporting faculty in asynchronous course design and helping develop institutional standards for online instruction.

Prior to becoming Vice Dean in 2025, Dean Rodriguez served in several academic leadership roles at Southwestern, including Associate Dean for Academic Innovation and Administration and Assistant Dean of Academic Success. During nearly a decade leading Southwestern’s Academic Success and Bar Preparation department, Dean Rodriguez designed and taught several programs and courses supporting student success in law school and on the bar exam. Her approach draws on cognitive learning theory and connecting academic skills to professional competencies early in law school. Her course-design model, which applies cognitive learning principles, has been adopted by other law schools seeking to create or enhance academic and 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, writing, and service focus on increasing access to legal education, improving bar exam outcomes, and advancing evidence-based online and hybrid legal education. 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 co-author of “More than the Numbers: Empirical Evidence of an Innovative Approach to Admissions,” published in the Minnesota Law Review. The article presents empirical evidence that holistic admissions practices can identify qualified applicants whose potential for success is not typically captured by traditional numerical measures. A 2025 follow-up article in the Southwestern Law Review, “Breaking the Admissions Mold,” shares the stories of graduates admitted through that process. Her national presentations have addressed topics such as deliberate online pedagogy, the use of asynchronous tools to foster engagement, quality assurance for new online programs, 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), the Online and Hybrid Learning Conference, the Association of Academic Support Educators (AASE), and other national organizations. Her recent work includes guiding Southwestern’s to changes in the ABA’s distance education standards and contributing to statewide discussions of bar exam reform.

Dean Rodriguez has served on the executive boards of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Academic Support Section and the Technology, Law and Legal Education Section, and on the executive board of the Association of Academic Support Educators (AASE). She has also served on various committees, including AASE’s Bar Advocacy Committee. She has contributed to major studies and reform efforts concerning the bar exam, including State Bar of California’s 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 also served on the California Supreme Court Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the Bar Exam, which made recommendations to reform the California 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 Courts 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 worked in education for nonprofit organizations that helped students from underrepresented backgrounds pursue college. Many of those students became the first in their families to attend college or graduate school. She continues to bring that commitment to access and opportunity to her work in legal education.