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T
hird-year Loyola law student Alexandra
Stan is interested in exploring
commercial and energy law. Alumna
Greta Weathersby (JD ’87), a former
coworker of Director of Experiential
Learning Josie Gough (BA ’74, MEd ’78, JD ’84), is
senior counsel at Chicago-based Integrys Energy
Group Inc. When Stan was looking for practical legal
experience in this relatively narrow industry, Gough
expertly worked her vast network of professional
relationships and helped Stan land an externship
with Weathersby and her colleagues.
Now Stan, who’s already completed an
externship with Integrys Business Support LLC, is an
in-house counsel law clerk at the same organization.
Her duties range from drafting compressed natural
gas site leases and various other corporate contracts
to proposing corporate policy changes in response
to new regulations to advising human resources
and business clients on employment law issues.
“Although this has been a unique opportunity to
work for an energy company, I’ve gotten really
substantive experience and skills that will translate
well to other employment environments,” Stan says.
Stan is one of the 100-plus Loyola law students
who annually participate in an externship, part of the
law school’s heightened emphasis on experiential
learning. Beginning this fall, all incoming students
will be required to complete six credit hours in
comprehensive simulation courses, externships,
clinics, or practica, with at least three of the six hours
involving a live client.
“We’re making sure that every Loyola law
student has the experience of acting as a lawyer for
a client in a real-life practice setting,” says Michael
Kaufman, dean for academic affairs. While many
law schools offer the opportunity for hands-on
practice, Loyola is one of only a handful of schools
that can assure employers its students will have that
experience prior to graduating, Kaufman says.
Thumbs up for hands-on
As employers increasingly demand law
graduates who require minimal on-the-job training,
the acquisition of practical skills has become a
critical component of law education. Experiential
learning gets new attorneys ready for success in
several ways, Kaufman says.
“In our experience, borne out by research,
students learn substantive law better when
they apply it to real-life situations,” he explains.
“Experiential learning helps students perform better
in the classroom. At the same time, they get hands-
on practice with real-life clients and situations—so
they end up with a tremendous foundation in
knowledge, values, and skills. And students love it.
They vote with their feet, signing up in droves for
these experiences.”
Loyola’s seven clinics, which cover litigation,
policymaking, and transactional law in a variety of
areas, provide one of the School of Law’s best-known
and valuable experiential learning opportunities.
Equally well respected is Loyola’s extensive advocacy
program, which offers moot court, mock trial,
alternative dispute resolution, and arbitration
experiences across the country and globe.
“Most law schools offer good simulation
opportunities in trial practice, and Loyola has always
excelled in this area,” says Kaufman. “Now, Loyola is
expanding simulation courses to include all areas of
litigation, dispute resolution, and corporate law.”
New life for the
externship program
Beyond clinics and simulation courses, the
recently revamped externship program is the law
school’s key experiential learning option. Gough,
who joined the School of Law in 2010, has more than
doubled the number of student externs. “We have
a truly collaborative environment in the classroom
and field placement with students, other faculty,
our alumni community, the bench, the bar, and bar
associations,” she says. “We use creative approaches
and innovation to assist students in transitioning to
the practice of law.”
Current field placement settings include
alternative dispute resolution, child and family
law, corporate law, criminal law, entertainment/
creative arts/sports law, government, public affairs,
health law, intellectual property law, professional
responsibility, judicial, and public interest law. In
every venue, Gough says, “Our goal is not just to
help students develop practical skills, but also to
incorporate the values of the profession.”
Gough has also redesigned the required
externship seminar, which supports and strengthens
externs’ on-site work. With co-instructor Maureen
Kieffer, associate director of career services, Gough
tailors the curriculum to the students enrolled each
semester. Recent topics in small-group discussions
with established legal professionals included ethics
and professional responsibility, privacy and data
Poised to
practice
Experiential learning eases transition
between law school and employment
HANDS-ON LEARNING
3L Alexandra Stan (right) is among several Loyola students who have completed externships at Integrys Energy Group Inc.
under the guidance of Loyola alum Greta Weathersby (JD ’87) and her colleagues.
The March 2014
issue of
National
Jurist
ranked
Loyola #10 in
the country for
practical training
and assigned an A+
letter grade for its comprehensive offerings,
including simulations, faculty-supervised
clinical positions, and field placements.
A
+
SPRING 2014
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LOYOLA LAW
