BYU Law Partners with Top Law Firms for Expanded Spring 2022 Academies Program

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Mar 30, 2022, 10:00 ET

Immersive program provides professional development, training and connections in practice areas of interest

PROVO, Utah, March 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BYU Law, a global law school focused on leadership in legal theory and practice, today announced it will host a full slate of boot camp-style Academies for the spring of 2022, providing first-year BYU Law students with invaluable professional training and connections with top-flight attorneys in practice areas of interest. The 2022 BYU Law Academies, offered in partnership with several leading law firms, include the Trial Academy in Dallas and the Deals Academy in New York City (Kirkland & Ellis), the Startups Academy in Palo Alto (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati), the Energy Deals Academy in Houston (Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP), the Immigration Academy in Salt Lake City (Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy, LLP), and the Peacebuilding Academy in Bear Lake, Utah.

"BYU Law understands the importance of going beyond the classroom setting to provide hands-on learning opportunities for students to explore career opportunities early in their academic journey," said Gordon Smith, dean of BYU Law. "Our Trial and Deals Academies have been enormously popular with students and participating firms, so we are thrilled to announce the return and expansion of our Academies Program following a pandemic-necessitated hiatus. BYU Law is also in talks with other corporations and firms to add more practice areas and locations, including international opportunities, so the unique Academy experience is available to all interested first-year students."

The program allows students to experience high-level law practice in a variety of areas; many Academies also introduce students to important legal markets throughout the country. Curriculum varies slightly depending on the subject matter, but each Academy is built around an intensive simulation-based approach that helps students integrate their academic legal training with the real-world practice of law, learning from professionals and getting a feel for the area of interest. For instance, the Startups Academy is a rigorous transactional lawyering program where students will receive instruction from Wilson Sonsini's experienced startup attorneys on supporting startup businesses in their corporate transactions, including incorporations, founder relationships, early-stage financings and intellectual property. Energy Deals Academy participants will work with Orrick's global energy and infrastructure team to learn about legal issues impacting the global energy industry and gain experience with commercial financing, joint venture agreements and operating agreements in the energy sector.

Each Academy will be supervised by a full-time BYU Law faculty sponsor with relevant practice experience and a dedicated academy-specific adjunct faculty coordinator from BYU Law, in addition to lawyers who work for collaborating law firms. Dean Smith, a leading figure in the field of law and entrepreneurship, will be onsite in Palo Alto to run the Startups Academy. Students are selected by application based on demonstrated interest in the relevant practice area, and commitment to professionalism and professional development. The Academies Program is funded by the law school; participation (including all training, travel, lodging and meals) is provided at no charge to all students selected for an Academy.

About the BYU Law Academies Program Launch

The BYU Law Academies Program launched in 2018 when the school created the Trial Academy, a weeklong program pairing first-year students with a faculty of seasoned trial lawyer coaches in a boot-camp-style learning environment. Students received instruction and worked in small groups with their coaches 10 hours each day, then worked late into the evening preparing for the next day's sessions and a capstone mock trial. After the concluding dinner, one associate dean reported: "At my table last night the students kept asking me 1) why doesn't every school do this, and 2) why didn't we do this before?" Inspired by the success of the Trial Academy, the next year BYU Law established the Deals Academy to focus on M&A work. Twelve students were selected to participate in this Academy, which was hosted in New York City by Kirkland & Ellis. Senior associates and junior partners from K&E served as coaches for the students as they worked through a simulated deal, and senior partners spoke with the students at the end of each day. During the program, K&E identified several students they wanted to recruit as summer associates for the following year. One of the BYU Law students who participated in the inaugural Deals Academy is returning to K&E this summer as a full-time associate.

For more information about the BYU Law Academies, visit https://law.byu.edu/academies/.

About BYU Law School

Founded in 1971, the J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law) has grown into one of the nation's leading law schools – recognized for innovative research and teaching in social change, transactional design, entrepreneurship, corpus linguistics, criminal justice and religious freedom. The Law School has more than 6,000 alumni serving in communities around the world. In its most recent rankings, National Jurist recognized BYU Law as the #1 best-value law school in its 2021 ranking. For more information, visit https://law.byu.edu.

(Media note: The Academies are closed to the public, but select participants are available for comment.)

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SOURCE BYU Law