The pressure was on Jack Tate, then a 1L, and his co-counsel to make the best case for compensation for their client, a high school teacher whom they alleged had been wrongfully terminated. Advocating passionately for this veteran educator, they crafted their argument to win over the mediator. But did they do enough?

Throughout the semester, Tate engaged in client interviews, a deposition, a chambers conference, and more, seeking to secure justice.

While the “client” and the case were simulations, the legal skills that Tate and his fellow 1L developed were real. They were participating in Minnesota Law’s Law in Practice (LiP) program, recently honored for the innovation it has brought to experiential education.

“It was a huge confidence boost,” says Tate, now a 2L and an LiP student instructor says of his experience in the program. “It was the first time I could really envision myself working as a lawyer. I had never done anything like that before, and it forced me way outside of my comfort zone. It’s good for students to get outside of the study carrels and grapple with what it means to be a lawyer.”

LiP is one of just 10 programs nationally selected by Bloomberg Law in the “Innovation & Experience” category of its newly launched Law School Innovation Program. Bloomberg established the program to honor pioneering educational innovations that benefit students, schools, and the legal field. 

10 Years of Innovation

A required 1L spring semester course, LiP has been a crucial part of the Minnesota Law experience since 2013. Minnesota Law professors Prentiss Cox ’90 and Laura Thomas (now a Hennepin County District Court judge) transformed LiP from an upper-level elective to an integral part of the curriculum for 1Ls. The goal of the program is to convert doctrinal law concepts into an experiential learning format early in a student’s legal education. During the semester, each student works on two case simulations from start to finish, one litigation and one transactional.

1Ls are divided into law firms—a classroom setting where Minnesota Law faculty dive into the law and how to apply it to the specifics of each simulated case. Practicing attorneys in smaller groups teach best practices and oversee six simulations. Working in pairs, the student lawyers complete a range of legal work, including taking a deposition and negotiating a contract.

“We want to make sure that when you do something in practice, it’s not the first time you’ve ever done it,” says Randall Ryder ’09, director of LiP and the moot court program. “I tell the students that it’s a chance to play in the sandbox with no consequences. It’s valuable for law students entering a profession where if you make a mistake, there can be severe ramifications. LiP gives them a great opportunity to learn from their mistakes.”

Though other law schools offer practical skills courses, Minnesota Law’s stands out in several ways, says Mitch Zamoff, assistant dean of experiential education. The law school has built LiP to a large enough scale so that all 1Ls can participate. Instead of law students playing the parts of clients and witnesses during simulations, LiP draws on a troupe of more than 50 trained actors to play those roles. This provides a highly realistic setting during the course’s experiential exercises, Zamoff says.

In addition, more than 30 practicing lawyers share their real-world experience as adjunct professors, while more than 50 judges and mediators volunteer their time each year, Zamoff says. They hold simulated mediations and chambers meetings—including making rulings—heightening the realness of the simulations.

“Not many law schools offer a lawyering skills program to all of their first-year students,” Zamoff says. “We believe that this is a critical part of a developing lawyer’s experience. It doesn’t make sense to delay it until you are more than one-third of the way through law school.”

Building Confidence and Skills

Rajin Singh Olson ’16, a patent attorney at Robins Kaplan in Minneapolis, took LiP and has been an adjunct professor since 2020. He believes that it is enormously helpful for students to take charge of cases throughout all stages of litigation, gaining an up-close view of the nuts and bolts of practicing law. For Olson, a first-generation lawyer, LiP also highlighted different ways to work as an attorney, including in litigation.

Olson often notices major transformations in students during the semester, especially after they complete a simulation. “One of the things I love most about the course is you see people growing in confidence,” he says. “For example, you see people who are introverted becoming confident in providing client service, and you see people who are extroverted being able to really focus on the issues that matter,” he says. Students also practice the important skill of shifting their approach depending on whether the audience is a client, opposing counsel, or judge.

For many students, the first semester of law school can be overwhelming as they dive into doctrinal courses with heavy reading loads. Some students thrive in the analytical academic environment, while others struggle to find their bearings. Tate can attest that he questioned his career choice during first semester. But LiP renewed his commitment to becoming a lawyer.

“The reality is, practicing law is both about interpreting cases and applying the law and connecting with people,” Tate says. “Law in Practice was an opportunity to show my strength in client-facing work and remember that this is the reason I went to law school.”

Another key component of LiP is the robust feedback students get after each simulation, Ryder says. They receive oral and written comments from their adjunct professor, as well as feedback from their opposing counsel’s adjunct professor, a judge, a mediator, and peers. Hearing what they did well and where there are opportunities for growth helps students refine their skills and develop into lawyers who know their way around a negotiation or deposition, he says.

Thanks to LiP, students are primed to engage in the many other experiential learning opportunities at Minnesota Law, such as nearly 30 clinics or field placements. They also have a leg up when they start summer jobs. This is when Ryder often hears from student. “I get emails that say, ‘I did my first real live client interview or participated in a deposition, and it went great. I felt prepared because of LiP,’” he says. “We’re teaching them tools that they might use for the rest of their professional careers.”

Gaining Experience in a Safe Environment

Suzanne Mead, 2L and a student instructor, appreciated having the opportunity to start building a case through depositions, something she witnessed while working at a firm before law school.

“It’s a really good way to experience something in a safe environment,” Mead says. “Now when I go into practice, I’ve gotten the nerves out of the way. You gain confidence in your ability to practice law and find your own style. I learned that sometimes you have to play the game a little differently depending on what you’re doing.”

Adjunct professor Katherine Nixon ’21, a law clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul, found the skills she learned during LiP to be immediately transferrable to working in Minnesota Law’s Bankruptcy Clinic as a 2L and 3L. Nixon says she routinely applied her LiP experience to case management, communications with clients, and advocacy.

 Nixon had some exposure to law during college when she assisted a trial team in federal court.  But observing lawyers in action isn’t the same as diving in yourself. 

“It’s a very different experience when you take ownership of a case file, and you are the person asking the questions,” Nixon says. “It’s hard to picture yourself doing these things. But I got to the point where I knew the case file really well, I knew the questions I wanted to ask, and I knew what goal I wanted to accomplish.”

Nixon says LiP provides an environment conducive to learning. “It’s in a safe space so if you mess up in Law in Practice, it’s okay. You will always remember the mistakes you made, and you won’t make them again.”

Suzy Frisch is a Twin Cities-based freelance writer.