By
Danielle Feinstein
The rules of law may be set in stone, but the landscape in which they are being practiced is changing.
The faculty at Northwestern University School of Law undertook a collaborative effort to survey the legal community in Chicago to determine how to incorporate society's changing atmosphere into its students' legal education.
The Intensive Semester, which starts this fall, is what resulted. The new program will expand on current opportunities at the law school by instituting a program where third-year law students can devote an entire semester to working outside the classroom, rather than doing so for one class out of four - as they currently do. Students who participate in this program will dedicate one full semester of their third year to either a practicum, clinical practice at the Bluhm Legal Clinic or legal research.
The practicum component will consist of students finding externship opportunities at nonprofit entities and government agencies.
Cynthia A. Wilson, clinical associate professor of law at Northwestern, will oversee these experiences. Wilson describes the program as individually tailored with a classroom component.
Students accepted into the Intensive Semester will find a practicum that explores their areas of interest and can then seek out a faculty member whose background coincides with their interests. The classroom component of the experience will consist of weekly meetings, journaling, reflections and a final paper, Wilson said.
As primary director of the practicum experiences, Wilson will ensure that students are making the right connections with faculty members and are completing the proper steps to obtaining credit. In contrast with the clinical practice option, students who work in a practicum outside of the law school are those who will receive the most supervision.
Wilson said she will "scrutinize outside placements for appropriate supervision, make sure students are doing legal not clerical work, and provide weekly feedback and a site visit to make sure it is a rich, broad and deep educational experience."
"I hope to have a group of students who have a wonderful experience getting a great view of what it's like to be a practicing lawyer," Wilson said. "They will get on-the-job training, see a lot more than they're able to see now, and go out into the world as better lawyers for it."
Angelica M. Lopez, an alumna of the class of 2009, participated in various practicum experiences in combination with full course loads during her semesters at Northwestern law school. When asked how the Intensive Semester could have affected her practicum experiences, Lopez said the new program would have allowed her to "take on more projects, get more involved on different assignments, and work more closely with people at the agencies."
In one of her practicum experiences, Lopez worked at an agency where she learned about civil rights law. Balancing a practicum with a semester course load limited the number of projects she could work on and, consequently, affected her confidence when she later applied for a job in the same field, Lopez said.
"If I was there more hours in the week without focusing on my class work," she said, "I could have possibly gained enough experience to have the confidence to say 'yes, I can do civil rights law at an entry-level position.' "
Selected students interested in legal research will spend time investigating a topic of their choice and will work with a self-selected faculty member. Students participating in the new program can also choose to participate in a full semester clinical experience with a simulation-based curriculum. Students who choose this option will work full-time with a clinical faculty member in the Bluhm Legal Clinic.
Thomas F. Geraghty, associate dean for clinical education and director of the Bluhm Legal Clinic, anticipates that students who work in the clinic as a part of the Intensive Semester will achieve more benefits than those working in the clinic for only one class.
"In the clinic we have a number of cases that are complex and involve a lot of prep time and trial time," Geraghty said.
He hopes students will "get involved in a number of complex cases to get a sense of what it's like to try a case from beginning to end."
Students will have already spent two years learning through classroom instruction. The Intensive Semester will provide a new opportunity for students to concentrate on one project without the distraction of other courses, Geraghty said. The largest challenge, however, will be determining the supervisory time, he said.
If the program is found to be successful this year, Geraghty hopes to expand the experience to Louisiana for Hurricane Katrina relief and to the Mississippi Center for Justice, where pilot programs are currently in process. He wants to expand in this way because "this is very interesting work. Students not only learn a lot from being involved in these projects, but they also perform a tremendous service. And as a by-product, externships such as these provide students with job opportunities."
When asked about the new third-year program, Ashley Harlan, a second-year student, said participating in this type of experience would "teach you a method of thinking that you learn how to use on a daily basis in jobs, which to me, is critical work experience for getting a job when you graduate and is something I would definitely do."
Harlan also believed there is value in participating in the Intensive Semester after two years of classroom time alone, as it would allow her to contribute to more projects and, in turn, provide her with more to discuss when interviewing for jobs, she said.
James A. Lupo Jr., clinical associate professor of law and associate dean for academic affairs, was part of a strategic review process held in 2006. The review revisited an evaluation initiated when David E. Van Zandt started as dean at Northwestern in 1995 and culminated in the Intensive Semester.
"Our students' career paths were becoming increasingly dynamic," Lupo said. "They were staying at their first jobs for three years or less, changing jobs several times, and shifting from private practice to corporations, to NGOs, nonprofits and going into government or the judiciary."
It was this volatility that caused Lupo and the other faculty to revisit the criteria for legal education and provide students with the tools to succeed throughout their entire careers.
Lupo said they contacted leaders in the legal community to discuss proposals Northwestern formulated for restructuring legal education. This resulted in discussions about skills in leadership, teamwork and global awareness that are not normally viewed as relevant to legal education.
"We need not only to teach the doctrine of the law - the 'what' of the law - but also inspire students to enter a deeper understanding of the 'why' of the law and relate that to their ultimate practice, the practical application of the law," Lupo said.
"When employees, colleagues or peers see someone with that depth of understanding they will really distinguish themselves quite well."
When asked how law students from Northwestern will be at an advantage, Geraghty said: "What we're doing is providing them with the kinds of hands-on experience in client contact, participation in hearings and court, depositions, and taking the lead on cases that law students aren't getting in their first years of working."
Wilson hopes to look to the school's contacts in other parts of the world and the work to be done in developing countries to expand the reach of the program's experience.
"To work at nonprofits in other parts of the world in this age of globalization and increased international community would be a great experience for a student," Wilson said.
"I believe there is a place for all of this in your education and that people learn in different ways," she said.
"Frankly, employers are looking for this. They want someone who can hit the ground running more, and I think that sometimes traditional law school education doesn't allow that so much if you spent your entire three years only in the classroom."
The degree of personal choice in students' legal education at Northwestern was echoed when Lupo said: "We have never been a school that has said you have to do x, y or z in your third year. A lot of our students do clinical work; a lot of our students are in practica or externships. I don't see it as a zero sum, I see it as a lot of our students shape their third year in a way that is most meaningful to them."
"This is where the market is going in terms of demanding more experience," Wilson said. "We are at the forefront of where the market is going, and what employers are seeking."