UC Law seminar tackles best strategies for supervising in today’s environment

Having a student worker should be a mutually beneficial engagement. As busy lawyers struggling with a host of new issues in the COVID-19 era, you may not have time to figure out how to best supervise student workers. The upcoming University of Cincinnati College of Law CLE-seminar, "Supervising Remote Law Students: Making it a Win-Win for All," is designed to help employers in this situation.  

Chris Szydlowski, the college's director of externships, will share practical guidance, insight and materials on crafting a successful program for remote student workers that will benefit everyone. The seminar will be held noon, Thursday, May 28, online via WebEx.  CLE: 1 hour general CLE applied for in Ohio.

We are all faced with finding a way to forge ahead in these unprecedented times. Remote work is a likely reality for the summer and beyond. Maybe you have already committed to having a student join your organization as an intern, extern or clerk. Maybe you are hesitant to do so because you aren't sure what that might look like. This session is offered to provide guidance and structure to attorneys who will be supervising law students remotely, perhaps for the first time. It will provide detailed best practices to ensure that the remote experience will be as beneficial as possible for the student, the partnering organization, and the law school.

After taking the course attendees will understand the importance of providing a robust experience for the next generation of lawyers; learn the components of a comprehensive on-boarding process; gain insights on how to best communicate with remote workers; walk away with ideas for assignments and experiences for their students; explore how to build community in a virtual setting; and review best practices for providing effective feedback. Best of all, participants will leave with sample checklists, assessment and feedback forms, and remote working policies.

Christine Szydlowski joined her alma mater, the University of Cincinnati College of Law, in the spring of 2018 as the director of externships. In this role, she assists second and third year law students in finding semester-long field placements and guides them in making the most of these real-world experiences. With a passion for inspiring individuals to live up to their potential, she teaches classes that correspond with the field placements. 

Szydlowski received both her BS in Education and JD from the University of Cincinnati. She began her legal career with Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP in the mass tort litigation group. She later moved to the University of Dayton School of Law to serve as assistant dean and director of Career Services and then to Graydon Law, where she was the firm’s first professional development director.