National Law Journal: Recession Makes Externships a Sweeter Deal

Editor's Note: I like that they acknowledge that problem-solving and likeability are important skills for lawyers.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202433569967&The_recess...

Excerpt: Law students want to be problem solvers, said Louis S. Rulli, professor of law and clinical director at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

"We've had a very strong upswing in demand" for externships and clinical courses, he said. "This is a generation that is used to succeeding."

With less hiring being done the old way, it puts a new focus on a more realistic way of hiring — employers want lawyers who are competent, willing to learn and likeable, said William D. Henderson, Indiana University Maurer School of Law – Bloomington professor.

Those are all things that a law student can demonstrate in an externship, Henderson said.

"We're in a period now of innovation" where old notions are playing a new role, he said. "The unintended consequence of the recession is that law schools may be rediscovering the secret sauce of professional development."