Nationally recognized U.S. law firms The Cochran Firm, PC, Jacoby & Meyers, LLC, and Chavez Law Group, and The National Trial Lawyers legal association are collaborating with Charlotte School of Law and Arizona Summit Law School to provide new educational and internship opportunities to law school students beginning with the current fall semester.
Second and third year law students at participating schools will be able to take part in The Entrepreneurial Practice Portal - Digital Tools and Skills for the 21st Century Lawyer, where students will work with law firms to create digital legal content for the firms and related legal associations. During the 2015 spring semester, Florida Coastal School of Law and the Kennedy Law Firm will join in this educational venture.
"The Entrepreneurial Practice Portal program is designed to give law students valuable experience researching and writing articles on practical legal topics for website, blog and social media use for the participating law firms," said Jay Conison, Dean of Charlotte School of Law. "At the same time, the program will give our students a competitive edge in the application of social media platforms in law practice."
"The partnership between the law schools and law firms provides a great opportunity for our students to gain practical experience and build upon what they have learned in the classroom. The program will give our students real time exposure to the legal profession and allow them to develop legal skills that will benefit them throughout their career," said Scott Thompson, Arizona Summit Law School President.
In the five-semester Entrepreneurial Practice Portal program, attorneys, journalists and marketing professionals will advise students and oversee their work. Initially, students will work an expected 10-20 hours per week, writing website and blog content and social media posts.
In addition to digital journalism assignments, students will have the opportunity to work with future video production of legal newscasts which will be posted on websites of participating law firms and legal associations. Senior-level students will also take part in legal research projects.