More than 200 second- and third-year LSU Law students participated in specialized mini-courses to gain practical insights into the legal field during the 10th annual Apprenticeship Week at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, which was held Jan. 2-6.
The program is held the week before the start of the spring semester each year. Taught by master lawyers and judges from around the nation, Apprenticeship Week featured 14 courses covering various concentrated topics ranging from Sports Law/NIL Experience to Video Game Law. In each course, visiting faculty guided students through real-world legal scenarios.
“I appreciated the practicality of learning from professionals actively practicing in my field of interest,” said Britney Davis, a third-year law student who took the Serving the Public and the Profession course. “In law school, we delve into the law itself, but this week gave us a glimpse into the reality of legal practice and how legal concepts intersect with real-world problems and social issues.”
Students said they enjoyed the immediate feedback and training received from program faculty, along with the unique opportunity to understand how the legal principles discussed in law school relate to actual practice.
“My favorite aspect of Apprenticeship Week has been applying things I learned in an Intellectual Property course to video games, an activity and topic I love,” said second-year law student Carl Davis of the Video Game Law course.
“It’s nice to discuss a topic that isn’t normally covered in law school with someone who currently practices in the Video Game Law field,” agreed second-year law student Kassie Wilson, adding she also appreciated learning more about the career opportunities available in the video game industry.
Apprenticeship Week is provided free of charge for participating students, who earned one credit hour upon successfully completing a mini-course. This year’s program introduced four new courses: Client Communication, Energy Policy & Climate, Higher Education Law, and the Law of Emergencies.
Among the visiting faculty were LSU Law alumni Mark Menezes (’81), president and CEO of the United States Energy Association (USEA), and Maryam Brown (’00), president of Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), who teamed up to teach the Energy Policy and Climate Change course. The other courses offered this year and the visiting faculty teaching them included:
- Energy Regulatory Law
- Faculty: Gordon D. Polozola (’95), partner, Kean Miller; Carrie Tournillon, partner, Kean Miller; and Randy Young, partner, Kean Miller
- Mergers & Acquisitions Workshop
- Faculty: Caroline Blitzer Philips (’96), partner, Latham & Watkins
- Complex Litigation and Antitrust
- Faculty: Stacie Lambert deBlieux (’04), principal, Salim Beasley, LLC
- Serving the Public and the Profession
- Faculty: Rachael Mills, access to justice projects counsel, Louisiana State Bar Association; and Marta-Ann Schnabel, shareholder, O’Bryon & Schnabel, PLC
- Managing the Personal Injury Case
- Faculty: J. Cullens (’94), partner, Walters, Thomas, Cullens, LLC, and Abboud Thomas (’93), partner, Walters, Thomas, Cullens, LLC
- Making Your Case. What Makes Judges Read and Hear What Lawyers Say
- Faculty: Kristen D. Amond (‘16), Amond Law, and U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan, Eastern District of Louisiana
- Sports Law/NIL Experience
- Faculty: David Fleshman (’11), partner, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP, and Ashley Clare-Kearney Thigpen, associate AD/diversity, equity & inclusion, LSU
- Video Game Law
- Faculty: J. Michael Monahan (’93)
- Community Development and Tax Policy
- Faculty: Joel Boussert, general counsel, Stonehenge Capital
- Construction Law
- Faculty: Jeffery Boudreaux (’00), partner, Kean Miller, and Kelsey Kornick Funes (’97), partner, Phelps Dunbar, LLP
- Legal Communication
- Faculty: Parker Layrisson (’02), principal, Parker Layrisson Law Firm, and Ebony Morris, Foley & Mansfield, LLP
- Higher Education Law, Policy and Practice
- Faculty: Ryan R. Brown, general counsel, Lincoln Memorial University
- The Law of Emergencies: Natural Disasters, Climate Crises, Pandemics, and Beyond
- Faculty: Danielle Aymond, Baker Donelson