The essential organizational unit of the Program is the law office. Each first year student becomes one of a small group of approximately sixteen associates in an office and remains a part of that office for his or her first two years. A faculty member and a carefully selected third year student are partners in the law office and provide guidance to the new associates. To ensure realism, every office is located in and uses the law of an actual jurisdiction, currently Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and California.

Whatever the outcome, the Program provides extraordinary, in depth exposure to the skills being taught. For example, students who are engaged in negotiations learn not only about negotiation, but about client interviewing and counseling, because they have in fact interviewed and counseled the client to prepare for negotiation. Second, the Legal Skills Program IS the Law School's course in the legal profession and in legal ethics. Students are exposed to the value and importance of "professionalism" in dealing with an adversary at the bar. Ethical issues are treated in the context of actual client service, changing the character of the students' experience from mere competitive games to a much truer, better textured learning experience.

The Legal Skills Program is carefully designed to reinforce and augment the School's traditional academic courses. The Program is an integral part of the School and its education and enjoys the wholehearted support of our legal academic community.