Debra Pogrund Stark, John Marshall Law School “Using Independent Studies to Create a Pro Bono Partnership” Over the past two years I have offered the students who have completed my real estate transactions course the opportunity to work with me and another attorney on various real estate projects on a pro bono basis. The legal work allows the students to put into practice what they have learned in class in a highly supervised setting and to begin to learn something that is very hard to teach in class, something I call “transactional skills”. When I refer to transactional skills I am referring to skills in communicating with a client and ascertaining the client’s special goals and needs, knowledge of rules of law and construction, knowledge of the customs and forms in a specific industry, negotiation of the terms of the transaction, issue spotting and issue solving, and closing the deal. While assisting in representing clients, the students are able to be introduced to these skills and to begin to develop them. In addition to assisting in representing the client, the students prepare a paper on an aspect relating to the representation and our graded in their independent study with me based upon their legal work and their paper. I have worked with several students, attorneys, and clients on several projects utilizing what I call a “pro bono partnership” model. So far the projects have been very successful for all involved. In the handout attached, I describe what a pro bono partnership is, why law professors should consider creating one, and how to do it. I will be giving a very brief talk on this topic at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco in January. For purposes of the program in Calgary I would like to be able to spend time focusing on the two case studies noted in the outline and on how to integrate the pro bono representation with teaching. Professor Stark will share her ideas during a special presentation at the Conference on New Ideas on Tuesday, June 12.