ANALYSIS: Six Law Schools Are Leading the Way in Career Pathing

The NextGen bar exam will more rigorously examine law students’ knowledge of critical lawyering skills, and six law schools are going the extra mile to provide students with real-world practical experiences to better prepare them for the new aspects of the bar as well as their careers.

Bloomberg Law’s second annual Law School Innovation Program recognizes law schools that teach students these foundational lawyering skills. We are proud to honor the top-scoring and honorable mention innovative programs in the following categories: changing pedagogy, beyond the law, immersive experience, and career pathing.

The following six programs stood out in the career pathing category.

Brigham Young University Law School

Brigham Young University Law School’s (BYU Law) BYU Law Academies Program offers rising 2L students the opportunity to work with and learn from experienced practitioners around the country and abroad in “boot camp-style” intensive practice simulations that provide insights into a variety of practice areas.

Selected students are matched with firms that work with BYU Law faculty who have experience in the respective Academies’ focus area to provide them simulated experience in one of the following:

• appellate advocacy,
• corporate compliance,
• restructuring and bankruptcy,
• corporate law (Delaware-focused),
• international commercial arbitration,
• deals and transactions,
• immigration,
• startups, and
• trial work.

Through the program, students are exposed to in-demand areas of law and learn practical skills specific to each academy’s field as well as general lawyering skills that are critical to succeeding in the practice of law, like networking and professionalism.

The academies are located in cities including Geneva, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, and Houston, and the entire experience is provided at no cost to students. BYU Law covers the costs of training, travel, and room and board.

“Our Academies program has been in great demand with students and law firms alike, recognizing the unmatched benefit from networking and hands-on learning that this program provides,” Michael Cazanave, marketing manager at BYU Law, said. “The program has piqued the interest of a diverse lineup of topnotch firms in legal markets throughout the country, as well as globally,” Cazanave said.

Suffolk University Law School

Through the Accelerator to Practice Program, Suffolk University Law School provides students the opportunity to learn skills necessary for establishing or working for small law firms that focus on providing legal services to individuals with average and modest incomes. The program includes the following four aspects of legal training:

• professional development and skills-related curriculum,
• internships,
• a capstone clinic (the Accelerator Practice), and
• career development and practice supports.

Students can take courses like Legal Technology for Small Firm Practice and Advanced Practice Skills that build foundations important to navigating life at a law small firm. Accelerator to Practice participants are provided a stipend to work with pre-selected small law firms during their 1L and 2L summers where they experience what it’s like being a lawyer in a small firm environment.

The internships “include hands-on legal work, and importantly also the opportunity to work with the leaders of the firm, ‘look under the hood’ of the firm’s business practices, and gain first-hand knowledge of their law practice management approaches, marketing, and other business operations,” said Sarah Boonin, Suffolk University Law School’s associate dean for experiential learning.

The final part of the program is the Accelerator Practice, where students participate in an in-house legal practice within the law school, representing clients on fee-shifting housing cases, which gives them the chance to work with administrative agencies and courts.

Honorable Mentions

In addition to the finalists, the following law school provide students with the ability to learn about different areas of law and foster skills that are critical to success in practice.

Boston University School of Law

The Case of the Lunch & Learn Lapse, offered as part of Boston University School of Law’s Compliance Policy Clinic, is a compliance simulation that requires students to conduct an internal investigation of a hypothetical company and to learn skills critical to the practice of law in the compliance space.

In the simulation, groups of two students lead a simulated internal investigation and work on real-world activities that are part of these investigations, such as meeting and communicating with lawyers, interviewing witnesses, and presenting their ultimate investigative findings.

“The Case of the Lunch & Learn Lapse merges the depth of learning that live-client clinics offer with a controlled environment that allows students to reach fully professional levels of business lawyering accomplishment with a high degree of independence,” said Danielle Pelfrey Duryea, clinical faculty member.

The simulation “requires students not only to engage in legal research, writing, issue-spotting, fact investigation, client relationship management, and client counseling/advising, but also to practice all these NextGen Bar Exam Foundational Skills simultaneously, as they arise in actual practice,” Duryea said.

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

The Writing for the Court course at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law provides students with the knowledge and skills that are necessary to succeed in post-law school judicial clerkships.

Students draft bench memos, attend oral arguments, and author draft opinions—as well as work on other tasks commonly assigned to clerks—related to an appellate case in front of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

“The most unique and impactful aspect of the course is its reliance on pending cases used in real time to provide students with a realistic experience similar to what they will encounter in a judge’s chambers,” Lecturer and Director of Judicial Clerkships Janet Siegel Brown said of the course. “They not only come to understand the timing and rhythm of judicial work, but they also discover the array of litigation issues and strategies—and errors—found in real briefs and oral arguments, including that a ‘Big Law’ firm may make a weak argument or submit briefs with typos and errors,” Siegel Brown said.

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

In Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law’s Writing for Practice course, students complete simulated assignments that are similar to those that they will complete early on in practice, allowing them to be better prepared for “Day One” of their legal careers.

Rather than focusing on longer form legal documents that students create in legal research and writing classes, assignments in the Writing for Practice course include shorter assignments like deposition summaries and contract clauses, which are necessary for early career attorneys to draft but are often not taught in law school.

“The focus on these more practical assignments, especially without the continuity that some students have come to expect from law school assignments, gives students a snapshot of practice that they may not otherwise see,” said Meredith Geller, director of Writing Lab and clinical professor of law. “Additionally, requiring the assignments be completed both in short time periods and in short page limits gives students a feeling for the pressures of law practice in a way they otherwise would not experience in law school,” Geller said.

The University of Tennessee College of Law

Through the Institute for Professional Leadership (IPL) at The University of Tennessee College of Law, law students foster and develop leadership skills that they will use in their careers as attorneys—and everyday life—through participating in a variety of leadership-focused courses and programming.

Some of the unique course offerings, such as “Thriving as a Lawyer” and “Small Group Communication for Lawyer Leaders” build skills and knowledge such as client counseling and relationship management. These abilities aren’t always developed during law school, yet they’re vital for the NextGen bar exam and beyond.

“Lawyers are leaders in their lives in and outside the profession. Yet, law schools have not historically trained law students in or for leadership in any specific way,” said Joan Heminway, interim director of the IPL. “The University of Tennessee College of Law’s Institute for Professional Leadership (IPL) steps into this void to offer law students ways to learn and apply elements of leadership in a series of foundational and specialized courses that engage students in the practical application of lawyer traits, styles, and practices,” Heminway said.

In previous articles in this series: Susan Swihart’s Jan. 25th article announced the Law School Innovation Program’s top 12 overall innovations, Stephanie Pacheco’s Jan. 26th article looked at those schools restructuring their pedagogy, Jessica Blaemire’s Jan. 30th article looked at those schools developing skills beyond the law, and Talia Thomas’ Feb. 1st article looked at those schools providing students with immersive experiences.

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