Two University of Nebraska College of Law programs recently were listed as among the 25 most innovative in the country in the 2013 back-to-school edition of preLaw, a National Jurist magazine.
The programs were:
The Entrepreneurship Clinic, where eight third-year law students assisted startup business clients with contract drafting, intellectual property protection and other matters relating to the early stage of a new business.
A new requirement that all first-year students take a course in the fundamentals of international law.
Susan Poser, dean of the College of Law, said the entrepreneurship clinic is unique because it encourages campus-wide relationships between law students and students in other programs who are interested in starting a business. Participating law students also visit other departments on campus to teach undergraduates about the legal issues involved with launching a new business.
“These (law) students begin to develop important networking and client development skills,” she said. “They learn the importance of the lawyer’s role in educating the public about the law and helping build bridges between professions.”
The requirement that first-year students take an international law course recognizes the importance of global law in today’s interconnected world, she said. Most, if not all, future lawyers will at some point be faced with an issue involving international or foreign law. The College of Law is the only law school in the Big Ten to require such a course in the first year.
