SMU Dedman School of Law - Partner to Practice

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Partner to Practice – About the Program

We are pleased to announce that SMU Dedman Law will continue Partner to Practice for Summer 2013 for our current second year students. Partner to Practice was launched in February 2010 to generate additional summer clerkships and internships for second year law students with law firms, corporations and non-profit organizations. Our goal is to ensure that all second year SMU Dedman Law students gain legal experience, making them more attractive to legal employers and well-prepared to enter the legal profession. We are delighted to announce that 225 students participated in Partner to Practice clerkships in summers 2010, 2011 and 2012. These opportunities were in addition to the clerkships secured through traditional on-campus recruiting and job postings.

Under Partner to Practice, the law school matches, with tuition remission, the cost of each internship or clerkship up to $500 per week for a maximum of $3,500 per student without an expectation of permanent employment.

The structure will remain the same as last year:

For each student you hire, the law school will match the cost of a clerkship or internship with your firm or company dollar-for-dollar, up to $500 per week for a maximum of $3500 per student. SMU Dedman School of Law will award funds to the student in the form of tuition remission. This program is available to organizations whose weekly salary will not exceed $700 per week. For example, in a stronger economy a firm may have paid $1200 or more per week for a clerkship. Under Partner to Practice the firm pays $700 per week and the student receives a $500 tuition remission. Firms and corporations will receive top-notch legal talent at a lower cost with no obligation beyond the summer position.
We are not requesting or expecting employment on a long-term basis. Our goal is to secure attractive summer positions for close to 100% of our second year students, as would be the case in a normal market. Our students represent the best in academic strength, leadership and professional presence. We want to make sure that SMU Dedman Law students have substantive legal experience, so that they are more attractive to legal employers and well prepared to enter the legal profession when the market rebounds. Through a clerkship or internship with your firm or corporation, students will gain legal experience, good references and compensation to assist with tuition and living expenses.

We anticipate that our second year students will receive Fall Semester grades and honors by February 1st, and we will hold interviews in our office beginning February 13th. If you would like to schedule an interview date in the Office of Career Services, contact Beth Lee at beth@smu.edu or 214-768-4065.

We thank you for considering Partner to Practice and would appreciate posting your position by March 15 so that interviews may be concluded before exams at the end of April.

To participate in Partner to Practice, please complete the Partner to Practice Job Posting form at: http://www.law.smu.edu/Forms/CareerServices/Partner-to-Practice.aspx. Tell us what you are looking for in a clerk or intern - grade criteria, coursework, professional background, practice area interest, etc. We collect resumes for you from interested students and email you a pdf document of collected resumes. You select students you want to interview. We will arrange interviews for you within the Office of Career Services or you may have students come directly to your office.

Steve Yeager is glad to answer your questions and help facilitate the process. Contact him at syeager@smu.edu or 214-768-2850.