What’s the difference between the Drexel Law Co-op and the Drexel undergrad Co-op? There are two main differences. First, the undergraduate program involves internships for pay. The relationships created in that program are basically employer/employee relationships. Second, the undergraduate Co-ops are full-time. When those students are on Co-op, they are working full-time and are not required to take courses or be on campus.

In translating the Co-op model into the law school context, the law school wanted to do what it thought would be best for training law students while satisfying the standards of the American Bar Association needed for accreditation. One of those requirements is that students CANNOT be paid and earn academic credit for internships. If we had designed the Co-ops as paid internships rather than a part of the academic program, students would have been forced to attend school year-round all three years in order to obtain the necessary credits for graduation.

Instead, the law school administration thought it was best to integrate the Co-ops into the academic program, which means that students will earn a significant number of academic credits while on Co-op. In order to make the Co-ops part of the academic program, they will be accompanied by a classroom component for which students will earn 2 credits per quarter, in addition to the 5 credits earned each quarter for the work performed in the placement setting. The classroom component is called “Lawyering Practice Seminar.” Additionally, there will be close supervision of the placements by the same members of the law school faculty who teach the seminar, our experienced Co-op Professors.

Given the law school’s effort to integrate Co-ops into the academic program, students will work essentially half-time (roughly 20 hours a week) and earn enough credits so that they only have to take a limited number of additional credits (approximately 4 hours).

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Why can’t we choose our own Co-op placements? The faculty and administration have decided that the law school needs to select and screen all placements for this program for a variety of reasons. One reason for this level of control is that the program is new and we are working with all of the placements for the first time. Because students are not just earning academic credit but indeed are also earning a significant number of credits for this program, we need to secure specific commitments to the law school and to the student from each placement. In order to do so, the placements must go through an approval process with the law school and be willing to work with the Co-op Professors and Associate Dean for Experiential Learning in a variety of ways.

Another reason to generate and retain placements is that many highly prestigious law offices and organizations in our community have agreed to take a Drexel Co-op student on a regular basis, even before we are accredited. If we allowed students to choose their own placements, some of these initial placements would go unfilled, and these firms/organizations might decide not to accept Drexel COL Co-op students in the future. There would be no way to predict the number or types of Co-op placements offered in a given quarter. By choosing the placements carefully, keeping the numbers relatively constant, and ensuring a diversity of placement settings, we are trying to do everything we can to ensure that students have high quality, successful learning experiences in the Co-op, as well as maintain good will in the Philadelphia legal community so that the program can continue to grow and thrive into the future.

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Why do students need to do their Co-ops in the Philadelphia area? In order to effectively integrate this program as a central part of the academic curriculum, students need to be able to come to the law school on a regular basis. Students must participate in a classroom component to accompany the field experience. This classroom component would not be feasible if students were in placements outside of Philadelphia. It is also necessary for the law school to monitor the students’ work experiences in a detailed manner, and that type of close supervision also would not be possible if students were placed outside of the local area.

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What’s my course schedule when I am on Co-op? Because the Co-ops are not full-time and you will be working an average of 20 hours per week, you will need to take at least one course in addition to Co-op and the accompanying seminar. Core courses are being offered at times during the week that can mesh with your Co-op work schedule, such as early morning and late afternoon/evening times. The Co-op seminar, called the Lawyering Practice Seminar, will meet for 2 hours a week each quarter (in the Fall Quarter it meets on Wednesday evenings). We have scheduled this class so that it should not conflict with the time expectations of the Co-op placements.

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Are there any advantages to doing a Co-op during my second year summer? Some students are concerned that going on Co-op during the second-year summer may affect job opportunities after graduation because they will not have a paid summer associate position. But depending upon your interests and your other work options, doing a Co-op that overlaps with your second summer may have distinct advantages. Because our Co-ops include many prestigious law offices across public and private sectors, they offer unique learning and career development opportunities for our students. It is hard to put a price tag on these experiences, but there is no doubt that having the experience of a Co-op and the skills you gain, along with the ability to put it on your resume and hopefully to obtain an excellent reference, are all invaluable toward creating and expanding future professional opportunities.

For students who wish to pursue a public interest career, doing a Co-op during the second summer may be an ideal option. Such positions are extremely hard to come by, and most likely would be unpaid in any event.

Students who wish to work at law firms may also want to obtain a Co-op as a ‘pre-emptive’ measure, especially if they are not at the top of the class, and might have difficulty obtaining a paid position.

Moreover, students may be specially licensed to practice for purposes of a Co-op at this stage of their law school careers, meaning that they may be able to take on more complex matters and to do actual client representation in their work if they pursue a Co-op at this point.

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What is the matching process for Co-ops? There are a number of steps to this process.

*Co-op Fair: the law school will invite the Co-op partners on campus and conduct a Co-op fair. The purpose of the fair is purely informational and social.

*Information to Students: Co-op partners will provide the law school with detailed information about themselves, their work expectations, and any pre-requisites or preferences they may have. This information will be distributed to the students.

*Student Questionnaire: Once the students have had an opportunity to consider their options, they will be asked to fill out a preliminary questionnaire in which they will be asked to indicate whether they wish to pursue a Co-op during that cycle, and to provide additional information about their general preferences. In the future, we will also be sure to inquire about any special needs, including transportation issues.

*Lottery and Preferencing by Eligible Students: After receiving the students’ questionnaires, we will assess how the numbers match up. If we end up with more students than available Co-op slots, we will use a lottery system to randomly select the names of the eligible students. The eligible students will be able to sign up for counseling sessions to help select their preferences, and in the future, we will also ask for resumes at this stage, to assist us in assigning students to interviews.

Any student who is not selected will be placed on a wait list. The wait list will generally work on a lottery system, except to the extent that a placement has special requirements or limitations. In those instances, the lottery will be limited to any student on the wait list who meets the necessary criteria.

*Screening Interviews: Once the eligible students are counseled and indicate their preferences, the Co-op administration will assign the students three placements each, at which they can arrange short interviews at the placements. The purpose of the interviews is mainly to assist students in assessing their preferences among the various placements. The Co-op sites will only be able to indicate any concerns they may have about whether a particular student would be a good fit with their law offices.

*Final Matching: After the interviews, the students will give us their rankings of the three interviews. We will then try to match students and placements to maximize student preferences, but also to allow students to benefit from our considerable wisdom and experience in assessing the optimal fit between students and placements. We will communicate this information to students and placements several months prior to the start of the next Co-op cycle.

We will make every effort to match each student consistent with their preferences. Please understand that this does not mean that we can guarantee students their first choice. On the other hand, our goal is to make students in this program as happy as possible, and to avoid placing students in situations in which they believe they would not be successful. If students have any concerns about the placements to which they have been assigned, they should immediately contact Professor Parambath, the Director of the Co-op Program, whose contact information is listed above.

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Will there be any training for the Co-op students or the supervisors before the start of the Fall/Winter Co-op? Yes! Over the summer, the law school will conduct training for the Co-op supervisors. Early in the fall, probably during Orientation week, there will also be a training session for the students.

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