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December 2007

Welcome to The Drexel Docket – Drexel Law's e-newsletter. The Docket brings you updates about the college; stories about what the faculty and students are doing; and news we think will be of interest to current and prospective students, pre-law advisors, co-op sponsors, alumni of the University, and friends of the law school. If you have comments or suggestions, please send them to us using the link at the end of this issue. We invite you to visit us at http://www.drexel.edu/law.

1. Get to Know Your Student Ambassadors!
2. Taking On-Campus Interviewing by Storm
3. Co-op Spotlight: The Honorable Mark I. Bernstein
4. Faculty Focus: Gwen Roseman Stern
5. Building Bridges with the Profession
6. Upcoming Events

Get to Know Your Student Ambassadors!

Drexel’s College of Law Student Ambassadors (CoLSA) are a prospective student’s best point of contact for learning what it’s like to be a law student at Drexel Law. These five 1L students (along with four of their 2L colleagues) are always on hand to provide interested students with building tours and to answer all their “what’s law school like?” questions.

Emily Foote
Hometown: Ardmore, Pennsylvania
Undergraduate highlights: American history major at the University of Pennsylvania; journalist for student paper; varsity lacrosse captain; after-school tutor and basketball coach
Advanced degrees: M.Ed. in secondary education from University of Pennsylvania
Professional experience: Teach for America; teacher at public charter schools KIPP Philadelphia and KIPP DC/Key Academy
Current activities: Founding a nonprofit organization, Girls on the Run; Pilates instructor; member of the running team; student ambassador
Co-op interests: Something in government
In her own words: I decided to go to law school because I think the law can help mitigate the glaring discrepancies and inequality found in public education. I chose Drexel Law because of its inviting, fantastic faculty, innovative co-op program, out-of-the-box thinkers, and focus on community involvement. I wanted to be a student ambassador because I like being a part of something that I really believe in and proactively supporting it by spreading the word in a constructive manner.

Frank Franklin
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Undergraduate highlights: Biology/immunobiology major at Morgan State University; member of the Student Government Association, Army ROTC/Drill Team, Beta Kappa Chi Honor Society
Advanced degrees: M.P.H. from Morehouse School of Medicine, Ph.D. in Health and Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University (expected 2008)
Professional experience: Public health work in the nonprofit sector
Current activities: Student ambassador
Co-op interests: Local government or large nonprofit organization
In his own words: I decided to go to law school because I was interested in the nexus between public health and the law. I chose Drexel Law because of its health law concentration and the high quality of “human capital” between the faculty and students. Being a student ambassador helps me maintain a more personal connection with the College of Law and positions me to have an active role in the school’s positive growth. It also reinforces a positive peer-to-peer open line of communication about the wonderful opportunities available here.

Jeffrey Katz
Hometown: Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
Undergraduate highlights: Restaurant management major at Johnson & Wales University
Professional experience: Lead line cook at Alma de Cuba; sous chef in Colorado; executive chef and general manager at West Avenue Grille; concessions manager for the Los Angeles Angels
Current activities: Student Bar Association representative; student ambassador
In his own words: I am so happy here. It was difficult trying to decide where to go to law school, but Drexel seemed different in a fresh sort of way, and it ended up being the best decision I could have made. Everybody has a stake in each student succeeding, and that makes a difference—especially to a first-term 1L. I am so excited to get a chance to make a first impression on potential students. It is very important that incoming students understand what we are and that being new is special.

Michelle Martin
Hometown: Port St. John, Florida
Undergraduate highlights: Advertising and public relations major at the University of Central Florida; member, Kappa Delta sorority
Professional experience: Student services
Current activities: Student ambassador
Co-op interests: Small to medium-sized firm that specializes in personal injury or health law, or public service
In her own words: I decided to go to law school once I realized that I could make a career out of my passion for helping people. I chose Drexel because of the sense of community I felt. I saw the way the faculty and staff interacted with the students, and I immediately knew that they truly cared about helping them succeed. I am happy to have the opportunity to share with prospective students what I experienced that made me want to be here.

July Simpson
Hometown: The world! (Florida; Japan; California; Seattle, Washington)
Undergraduate highlights: Art history major at the University of Washington
Professional experience: LSAT instructor for Kaplan Test Prep
Current activities: Yoga; reading; wakeboarding; outdoor activities
Co-op interests: Keeping all options open
In her own words: I didn’t decide to study law until I was halfway through my last year as an undergraduate. I did something that I loved and then decided to pursue something that I felt could benefit society in a meaningful way. When I was struggling with the decision of whether or not to take the chance and come to a brand-new law school, the people I met really helped make up my mind. Everyone was so excited to be here, and there’s a great sense of community. I want to help in making Drexel a great law school with quality students who want to be here.

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Taking On-Campus Interviewing by Storm

So what was on-campus interviewing really like?

“Going on about a dozen interviews over a four-week period can be a little overwhelming, but the staff at the career office did a good job of scheduling everything,” says Kevin Huang, who ultimately received and accepted an offer with Dilworth Paxson, a Philadelphia law firm with more than 100 attorneys.

Huang was not the only busy Drexel Law student this fall, as employer representatives conducted over 400 on-campus interviews of 70 students resulting in employers making 14 summer associate offers as of late November. To help students prepare for all these interviews, the Career and Professional Development Office provided students a number of resources including arranging mock interviews with practicing attorneys, individual résumé counseling, and seminar panel discussions with hiring attorneys. Huang added that these programs “really helped me ask insightful questions and focus on key messages.”

On-campus recruiting isn’t the only means by which some 2Ls have landed summer jobs. By sending out résumés and using professional contacts, several have obtained positions at small and large law firms – and thanks to some clever pavement-pounding, one student will enjoy a summer legal internship in entertainment law with country music agency RGK in Nashville.

Another student, Danielle Jouenne, did initially participate in on-campus interviewing, but the place where she eventually scored a summer position—Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney—is actually the law firm where she is currently working on co-op.

“I think I am unusual in that I did receive an offer from a firm where I have a co-op, considering there is no expectation for firms to offer summer positions or permanent employment to their co-op students,” says Jouenne. “I know that they were impressed with all of the Drexel Law students that they interviewed, so I was very honored to have been made an offer.”

In her co-op position, where she has been splitting her time between the corporate and litigation departments, she has been able to use her language skills to translate contracts from French to English, delve into Pennsylvania election law, and research legal restrictions on professional corporations. She says she hopes she’ll have a better idea of her preferred practice area by the time her co-op ends and is looking forward to her summer position.

Jouenne praised Buchanan Ingersoll’s confidential mentoring and commitment to offering both substantive work and fun events that will give her the chance to meet firm attorneys and fellow summer associates working here and at other offices throughout the country. “The co-op opportunity has definitely made it easier to determine what I want in a firm, and because of my positive co-op experience at Buchanan, it was a fairly easy decision to accept their offer of a summer associate position.”

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Co-op Spotlight: The Honorable Mark I. Bernstein

He may not have found a cure for cancer or the solution to world peace, but in his own way, the Honorable Mark Bernstein can lay claim to helping create something that truly impacts countless lives—an efficient management system for the thousands of Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas cases that were famously mired in backlog years ago.

“When I was a young lawyer working for a very busy single practitioner, we’d see a case in federal court tried to verdict in two years, whereas here you’d wait five or six years and then the attorneys would ask for a six-month continuance,” says Bernstein, a University of Pennsylvania School of Law graduate and former litigator who has served as a Common Pleas trial judge for 20 years. “Delay breeds delay. All I did was take the federal model and put it on an assembly line.”

The reform resulted in reducing the number of pending cases from 28,000 in 1993 to 6,000 in 2000. Today, all cases are put on track within three months of filing to come to trial no more than 25 months away—making Philadelphia the only urban jurisdiction that has no civil case backlog.

That may be one of Bernstein’s more visible accomplishments, but no less importantly, he has developed a stellar reputation for integrity and an outspoken commitment to important principles of justice. “If you start from the premise that all judges are equal, then whatever one judge can or should do, another should,” says Bernstein, who has addressed judges and lawyers nationwide and received the Foundation for Improvement of Justice Annual Award. “So if it’s not a power that I would want other judges to grab for themselves, it’s not one I should have.”

That’s exactly the kind of attitude that drew Georgina Dimattia, a second-year Drexel Law student, to pursue a co-op placement with the experienced judge. While researching her co-op choices, Dimattia says, she found herself impressed with Judge Bernstein’s demeanor and highly respected character.

“I was told that not only is he good at what he does, but he is also a good teacher—something that is reassuring and, I believe, very important when attempting to tackle something new,” says Dimattia, a University of Miami graduate who felt her bachelor of music degree with a J.D. would make her a well-rounded and valuable player in the music industry. She began working for Bernstein in late November as part of the winter 2007/spring 2008 co-op cycle.

Bernstein says being a judge is substantially different from his early days as a litigator. “The lawyers have to prepare the case, organize it, and figure out what is important to present, while the judge has to keep the playing field level and make sure the case is proceeding fairly without caring who wins,” he says. “The biggest difference is in the writing, where it’s advocacy versus explanatory writing. A lawyer advocates for a specific position and makes a case for that position, whereas what I try to do with my written opinion is spell out what I did, why I did it, and what my understanding of the law is.”

While Bernstein has had plenty of judicial experience in personal injury trials, the majority of his work these days is in Commerce Court for the First Judicial District. The challenge in both arenas, he says, is to avoid making new law despite the often complex issues that arise—a task he feels is made easier by the 2,000 years of Western tradition upon which he is able to draw.

“I had one case that wanted to incorporate a whole new theory of corporate governance into Pennsylvania law, but that’s not the role of a trial judge,” he says. “And the point of tort law is not to redistribute wealth; it’s to provide justice in a civilized way and to give people a reason to stop at the red light beyond the traffic ticket.”

As a judge who encourages students to read Aristotle and Plato and has taught an undergraduate course at Drexel about courtroom realities, Bernstein says he is enthusiastic about Drexel Law’s approach to legal and co-operative education. “The whole concept of Drexel as a law school is a terrific idea because the co-op program integrates real practice,” he says. “Often clinical programs either take the biggest, toughest cases like death penalty issues, or they take the landlord-tenant appeal. It’s a skewed perspective.”

Co-op student Dimattia is excited about the chance to work with one of Philadelphia’s preeminent judges and expects her new co-op will expand her legal knowledge and help her make well-informed career choices. “Working with a judge allows me to approach problems from a completely different point of view, to observe other attorneys, and to learn what works and what doesn’t,” she says. “Besides furnishing more experiences to pull from, I hope that it will also provide some guidance and insight into the profession to which I would not otherwise be exposed.”

Bernstein concurs and says he expects Dimattia will be handling work similar to his full-time law clerk: dealing with attorney questions, advising on motions, performing legal research, helping with the jury charge book, and assisting in court. He also intends to write a University of Pennsylvania Law Review article about expert witnesses on which she may be able to work. Ultimately, he says, he hopes that she and future co-op students will take away from the experience the reality of what goes on in civil courts in America.

“By the time this co-op is over, she’s going to know what is really going on behind the scenes on our side of the bar, how a courtroom runs, and what it means to be a courtroom lawyer,” he says. “Practicing lawyers who have not been a clerk will not have that perspective.”

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Faculty Focus: Gwen Roseman Stern

Drexel Law’s new Trial Advocacy Program may be in the hands of one of its most recently hired faculty members, but Gwen Roseman Stern is anything but new to the skills of trial advocacy. The seasoned trial lawyer and professor has put in place a top-notch experiential learning program that features classes in Pretrial Advocacy, Introduction to Trial Advocacy, and Advanced Trial Advocacy.

“Gwen is a very committed teacher and believer in giving students a hands-on education in trying cases, which is really the only way you can learn how to do it,” says Dan Filler, Drexel Law’s senior associate dean for academic and faculty affairs and professor of law. “She’s come in with lots of ideas and is helping make sure we develop a world-class trial advocacy program.”

As a former adjunct professor with her alma mater, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Stern taught legal research and writing and introductory trial advocacy classes. She also created and taught an advanced trial advocacy course on persuasion and expanded the mock trial training program as director, recruiting high-profile lawyers, judges, and law students to participate in the Philadelphia High School Mock Trial Competition.

But it has been her involvement at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law as director of the region’s Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, in which law students teach constitutional literacy and appellate advocacy in selected Philadelphia high schools, that has truly become a labor of love. Under her guidance, the project is now a joint program between Penn’s and Drexel’s law schools.

“I think all high school students should learn about their rights and responsibilities under the Constitution,” says Stern, who taught at Martin Luther King High School while in law school and later developed, publicized, and secured funding for the local Marshall-Brennan project while at Penn. It was that kind of dedicated leadership that helped attract Drexel’s attention and spur Filler to praise Stern for her “passion for client advocacy and legal education and tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm.”

Stern’s extensive trial experience has given her the perspective needed to run an effective Trial Advocacy Program. As an attorney, she was involved with product liability, personal injury, and medical malpractice work at several law firms, including White and Williams, LLC, where she tried numerous cases and recruited and mentored students for its summer associate program.

She emphasizes that students in the Drexel Law Pretrial Practice class will learn about the elements of case development—including theory development, interviewing and depositions, pretrial litigation discovery strategy, drafting pleadings, retaining experts, and conducting settlement conferences—all in a real-world setting.

“It’s essential that students practice real trial advocacy, so it’s important to me to design the class using real materials instead of mock cases,” says Stern, who is using public documents but has redacted names and other identifying references. “We’ll have real examples of computer animations from cases I worked on and bring in someone from a computer animation firm to show the students how it’s done. They’re so excited.”

Another way she expects to connect students to real-life trial advocacy is through the wisdom of practicing attorneys and the judiciary. Classes will host experienced plaintiff and defense trial lawyers and distinguished members of the bench, including the Hon. Legrome Davis and Mary McLaughlin, both former trial lawyers and current U.S. District Court judges for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Stern summed up her feelings by adding, “I think Drexel is an incredibly exciting place to work because the law school has a tremendous vision of greatness that it will absolutely meet. I love it here.”

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Building Bridges with the Profession

Students at some law schools might feel “sequestered” during their three years of nose-burying studying, but at Drexel Law, integrating studies with personal interactions between students and the legal community is essential to their law school experience. One of the most effective ways for students to capitalize on that is through active involvement with the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division (YLD), which is comprised of all attorneys under 37 and those who are 37 or older and have been practicing law for less than three years.

“We are so excited about the wonderful relationships that have been developing between the practicing bar and our students outside of the co-op program,” says Jennifer Rosato, Drexel Law’s senior associate dean for student affairs and professor of law. Drexel is the area’s only law school to cover dues for all of its students to be part of the YLD, which boasts 3,000 members and more than 30 committees involved with public service, law-related education, and legal assistance to the community. The opportunities for leadership, networking, and personal and professional growth are abundant, with plenty of educational, service, and social events and programs planned each year.

“Students can attend luncheons and receptions for a number of law organizations, and we also invite them to the bar association’s quarterly luncheons,” says Rosato. “A number of admitted and current students have done that, and it’s a very big deal, with hundreds of lawyers and judges in the room. They get a chance to be a part of that and see what a vibrant legal community we have.”

Rosato emphasizes that local attorneys are truly interested in meeting the next generation of lawyers and finding ways to bring the two groups together. One of the most well-received programs to date has been “Conversations with the Profession,” a series of talks with attorneys and Drexel Law students that was organized by Lou Fryman, a partner with Fox Rothschild LLP.

“Our ‘Conversations with the Profession’ series presented an opportunity for law students to experience the reality of the profession from active, talented attorneys, and it gave presenting lawyers the chance to hone their skills by interacting with energetic and talented students,” says Fryman, who recently received the Benjamin F. Levy Community Service Award from the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society.

These ongoing efforts spurred the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association to issue a resolution in February applauding the University, President Papadakis, and the College of Law for “contributing to the richness and excellence of the Philadelphia legal community.” The resolution specifically noted Drexel Law’s commitment to imparting traditions and values of the profession, enrolling all students in the YLD, and affiliating with each of the region’s minority, ethnic, and specialty bar associations so that students can obtain mentors and experience the profession while still in law school.

“A leader commands, influences, guides, conducts, escorts, and sets standards; leadership is the force that inspires one to reach a little higher, to try a little harder,” says Drexel Law Assistant Dean for Administration Mary McGovern, who has been instrumental in connecting students with members of the local judiciary. “Our judges and lawyers demonstrate their visible leadership by their willingness to mentor and assist others. It is befitting, therefore, that in the course of legal education we encourage our students to get to know legal professionals.”

One 2L student who felt uncomfortable at the first few educational and networking events he attended says he has now discovered the advantages of just being himself.

“I approached my first few events as formal interviews, which made the room very intimidating,” says Mike Lee. “Realizing that the importance of these networking events is to provide busy professionals an opportunity to talk with old friends and enjoy each other’s company, I changed my approach. Now when I attend these events I am more relaxed, which has translated into a great professional reputation across the College of Law and throughout the legal community.”

As a result of that new confidence, Lee was asked to participate on a panel discussion, “Getting Future Members from Law Schools,” that was held at a recent National Association of Bar Executives conference. His contribution to the panel, which also featured Carl “Tobey” Oxholm III, Drexel’s senior vice president and general counsel, provided a model for bar associations on how to nurture relationships with law students. Without a doubt, this collaboration between the professional and academic worlds will continue for years to come.

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Upcoming Events

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If you have comments, questions, or suggestions about The Drexel Docket, please contact us.

The Dean is fully informed as to the Standards and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools by the American Bar Association. The Administration and the Dean are determined to devote all necessary resources and in other respects to take all necessary steps to present a program of legal education that will qualify for approval by the American Bar Association. The Law School makes no representation to any applicant that it will be approved by the American Bar Association prior to the graduation of any matriculating student. Visit http://www.drexel.edu/law/accreditation.asp for more information about the ABA accreditation process.