Five years ago when I joined the SMU Dedman School of Law as director of career services, I noticed that some law schools were starting to offer classes on in-house practice. As a former general counsel, I thought that such a class would make sense here—business law is one of our strengths, and many corporations are headquartered in Dallas-Fort Worth. So I created an upper-level class called “The Role of the General Counsel,” which proved very popular. Offered in the fall and spring semesters, the class always exceeded its 45-seat capacity. In-house counsel at area corporations were invited to guest lecture in certain classes.
As a result of teaching the class, however, I realized that the in-house world is virtually unknown to law students. In addition to teaching them about legal and ethical issues facing inside counsel, I wanted to give them a glimpse of what in-house lawyers actually do. And I found a partner in my mission—Marc Steinberg, the Rupert and Lillian Radford Professor of Law. Together, we designed an academic program combining a corporate counsel class with externships in corporate legal departments.