National Jurist - November 2008 - (Page 14) The mock law firm ost, if not all, law schools offer law student clinics, but some schools are taking a more innovative approach to practical education. At t h e Un i ve r s i t y o f Detroit Mercy School of Law, students don’t just work for a clinic: they work for a simulated law firm, serving as associates By Ursula Furi-Perry, Esq. w h o s e w o r k is overseen by “partners” — clinical professors experienced in the practice of law. Dean Mark Gordon said he sensed that his students weren’t getting as much out of their third year of law school as they should have. Nor were they receiving the practical education needed to prepare them to work as lawyers. So he began talking to hundreds of alumni and lawyers. Gordon enlisted practicing lawyers and visiting professors to help him create the school’s Law Firm Program, a course requirement for upper-level law students which the school established two years ago. The Law Firm Program offers 20 departments for students to choose from, including environmental law, intellectual property, corporate law and real estate. Each faculty member sets his or her own requirements for enrolling in the clinic. Syllabi and curricula are overseen by an advisory board consisting of judges, corporate counsel and practicing lawyers. Law schools take an innovative approach to practical education by incorporating simulated law firms The Law Firm Program at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law better prepares students as summer associates, says Dean Mark Gordon. “We have been very careful as we’ve expanded from two departments [to 20] to make sure that teaching methodology and the brand remain the same,” Gordon said. The school continues to plan to expand the Law Firm Program — often using materials and feedback from national law firms — and wants it to become a fullservice simulated law firm. Students are required to take at least two clinical courses, working for two different departments in the simulated law firm, typically during their third year, though they are allowed to take more. Some clinical courses are also open to second-year students. Classes are small, ranging from a dozen to sometimes 20-30 students. At Chicago-Kent College of Law, students work on real cases at the Law Offices of Chicago-Kent — the fee-generating legal clinic run by the school. Students can work in various in-house practice areas, including employment discrimination and civil rights litigation, family law, health and disability law, criminal defense, immigration and low-income taxpayer representation. “Going through the clinical program prepares you for the practical skills you need to practice law,” said Susana Ortiz, who graduated from Kent in 2000 and worked for the law firm during her second and third year of law school. As a student, Ortiz worked on criminal 14 THE NATIONAL JURIST November 2008
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