Professors at Virginia have a reputation for being available, for working with students on legal scholarship or having lunch to discuss the latest concept they taught in class.
Internships
In addition to interacting with professors in and outside the classroom, many students work for faculty during the school year or their first-year summer, collecting and fact-checking research or completing other legal work. (What Research Assistants Worked On)
Brady Cox '10Brady Cox ’10 worked with Professor Chris Sprigman on a range of projects, including examining trademark in a clown makeup registry, researching the history of the “law of nature doctrine” in patent law, and helping with an antitrust symposium featuring a number of well-known professors and practitioners.
“‘I’ve not only had the opportunity to learn a lot about IP, but have also developed a great relationship with a fantastic professor,” Cox said. “He has helped me gain a greater understanding of a lot of the current issues in copyright and trademark today, especially in areas where intellectual property protection is very thin.”
Independent Research
Students can design their own research paper for credit, allowing them to work closely with a faculty mentor who supervises their work. (More)
Partnership
Students form partnerships with professors for a variety of reasons, ranging from pro bono projects to co-authoring publications. Several students recently teamed up with Professor Anne Coughlin to explore a lawsuit aimed at changing the U.S. policy against women serving in combat roles, and opening the draft to women. (More)
"Our goals are to gain official recognition for those women who have been placed in harm's way in the course of line of duty, and to expose a gender classification that is based on archaic stereotypes and is unconstitutional," said Kyle Mallinak '13. "We don't just have to speculate about how women would perform in combat conditions. We know now that they've performed, and performed well."
Mallinak, who co-wrote an op-ed on the subject in April 2011 with University of Virginia law professor Anne Coughlin, joined efforts with Coughlin and classmates Helen O'Beirne, Rebecca Cohn and Ariel Linet, who researched the issue as part of their coursework for the Law and Public Service seminar.
Professional Development
Students in mock trial or moot court competitions often practice in advance with faculty acting as judges during the presentation and offering feedback afterwards. Virginia Law’s support for students’ professional development continues after law school. Faculty conduct practice job talks for graduates entering legal academia and advise alumni and students on practice in a variety of fields, both in the private sector and in government.
