© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Kerry Curry
(Oct. 13) – Andrews Kurth and the University of Houston Law Center have partnered up to give first-year law students a good dose of reality.
A new professional development program designed by Amy Sladczyk Hancock, Andrews Kurth’s director of professional development, is expected to help prepare students for the day they transition from law students to professional attorneys.
The idea for the program, called Passport to Success, came about during a brainstorming session about a year ago between Hancock; Deborah Grabein, director of business development at the firm; and University of Houston Law Center Assistant Dean Allison Hickey Regan.
Dean Regan said Andrews Kurth offered to help students become more prepared for the work world by volunteering its time and expertise to develop and teach a professional development program.
“Employers come to recruit at the University of Houston because they know they are going to get top talent,” Regan said. “This is a gift that Andrews Kurth is giving to our students to make sure they can compete on a local and national level.”
Regan said the program provides the “finishing touches” to becoming a professional attorney that other students may not learn until they enter practice.
“Passport to Success” consists of six sessions — four mandatory and two optional —for the university’s 215 first-year students.
The first session, held recently, provided information about career options, clerkships/internships and effective networking. A speed-networking event with about 30 attorneys allowed the students to meet attorneys from area firms and businesses.
In the second session, students will take a personality test and work on understanding their own working style and how to relate to others with different working styles. Future sessions will include the art of effective communication, summer legal employment and how to make a positive impact, client relationship building and law firm business terminology — everything from the billable hour to write-offs.
Still new, the program is already proving to be popular, Regan said. “It’s been great for the law students. “It’s been met with rave reviews.”
Hancock said even after just one session, students appear to have benefited.
“We are seeing it in action,” she said. “It’s really encouraging. They’ve gone to some bar (association) activities in the community. They are making things happen and I’m so encouraged by that.”
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