Boston College Law School

English

NELLCO Consortium Legal Scholarship Repository

BC Law Partners on Innovative  Apprenticeship  Pilot Program with LegalOnRamp

Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School

Boston College Law SchoolDigital Commons @ Boston College Law SchoolLaw School Publications Law School Archive3-20-2014BC Law Partners on Innovative "Apprenticeship"Pilot Program with LegalOnRampBoston College Law SchoolFollow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/law_school_publicationsPart of the Legal Education CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Archive at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Law School Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For moreinformation, please contact nick.szydlowski@bc.edu.Digital Commons CitationBoston College Law School, "BC Law Partners on Innovative "Apprenticeship" Pilot Program with LegalOnRamp" (2014). Law SchoolPublications. 863.http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/law_school_publications/863LAW SCHOOL HOMEStudents HomeAbout BC LawAdmission & Financial AidCenter for ExperientialLearningThe Rappaport CenterFaculty & AdministrationNews, Events & Calendars2016 News Archive2015-News Archive2014-News Archive2013-News Archive2012-News Archive2011-News Archive2010-News Archive2009-News Archive2008-News Archive2007-News Archive2006-News Archive2005-News Archive2004-News Archive2003-News Archive2002-News Archive2001-News Archive2000-News ArchiveEventsServices & DepartmentsLaw ReviewsAlumni and FriendsContact UsLaw LibraryBC Law Partners on Innovative "Apprenticeship"Pilot Program with LegalOnRamp2014  NEWS ARCHIVE03/20/14Newton, MA—One of the biggest innovations in the legal profession in recent years has beenthe change in the litigation discovery process. Lawyers now use predictive coding technology torun effective and efficient document review processes, which allows clients to manage largeand costly matters in a more effective and efficient way. Now, a company called LegalOnRampis looking to bring innovations to big business legal transactional and compliance work—andfresh Boston College Law School graduates are getting in on the action.OnRamp, founded by former Silicon Valley General Counsel Paul Lippe, creates legaldepartment collaboration systems for large corporate legal departments and manages projectswhere recent grads help companies comply with complex regulations and jumpstart processimprovements. BC Law was one of a handful of schools involved in their pilot program, whichlaunched last year. The school sent five junior alumni to the program. The pilot is already sosuccessful OnRamp is expanding, and BC Law plans to add to its numbers this year.“It’s an exciting program in an expanding area of the law, and our students have hadincredible experiences with it,” says BC Law Assistant Dean of Career Services Heather Hayes.“While the professional development opportunity is great, our grads are also getting interviewsbased on their work with LegalOnRamp.”LegalOnRamp’s goal is to use technology to increase effectiveness and come up with bestpractices to address the growing need for this large-scale work across the globe. In the currentmodel, recent graduates take a part-time position as a contractor with the company and workclosely with a particular business (in the pilot, for example, a global bank) to improve theirhandling of contracts and compliance with international regulations. “Rampers” receive vitaltraining and experience, and then move on to a full-time position, either with anotheremployer or potentially with OnRamp itself.“There’s a huge gap between best practice and common practice in law,” says Paul Lippe,“Clients need help in closing the gap, young lawyers (like medical residents) can both delivervalue and accelerate learning, and law schools can deepen their engagement with theprofession. We feel that we’re able to offer the best of both worlds—solve complex problemsfor customers while advancing methodology and providing the kind of on-the-job training newlawyers need to be successful.”After leaving his General Counsel post, Lippe spent three years running a similar company forStanford Medical School, and so is trying to import some of the “best practices” from medicineinto law.  Hayes points out that the legal profession is just beginning to understand howvaluable that kind of initial supervised experience can be. “It’s like a short-term apprenticeshipor residency, hopefully with multiple rotations and real ‘full cycle’ experience,” she says.“Everybody wins.”The company has even borrowed the medical “rounds” model, where the Rampers meetthrough a Webex call several times each week with their supervisors and clientrepresentatives, make presentations, talk to inhouse lawyers for their customer and even hearfrom outside experts. “We learn a great deal during the rounds,” says Colin Levy ’10, who wasbc home > schools > law school home > news-events > 2014 > A  –  Z BC  NEWS MAPS DIRECTORIESPROSPECTIVE & ADMITTED STUDENTS CURRENT STUDENTS & COMMUNITY ALUMNI & FRIENDSUpdated: October 24, 2014Maintained by: Boston College Law SchoolAccessibility | Contact | Feedback © 2016 The Trustees of Boston College. Legala part of the initial pilot and has taken a leadership role for the BC group. “It’s a chance tobounce ideas off others, learn how to do our work better, and get valuable advice from allsides."Elizabeth Olien ’13 worked with LegalOnRamp for about four months before taking a job withthe Attorney General’s Office, while Shannon Sullivan ’13 found the substantive work to behelpful with her search in the securities regulation field. “My experience with OnRamp gave melots to talk about in interviews,” Sullivan says. “They are really interested in hearing aboutwhat I am doing, and when I explain how it is much more than simple contract review, westart talking about Dodd Frank and the regulatory compliance world.  It’s fascinating andconfirmed that is the practice area for me.” Sullivan just accepted an offer at FINRA. More from National Law Journal: They're Learning the Law Through Apprenticeships

https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1863&context=law_school_publications

BC Law Partners on Innovative Apprenticeship Pilot Program with LegalOnRamp

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NELLCO Consortium Legal Scholarship Repository

Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School