The Practicality of OU Law’s Digital Initiative: A Student’s Perspective

As 3L student Connor Bourland wraps up his summer clerkship for a Texas-based BigLaw firm, he wrote to share how he was able to directly apply the skills learned through OU Law’s Digital Initiative in the workforce.

“Part of my summer clerkship included what the firm calls ‘Trial Academy,’ where we (the summer associates and junior associates) workshop a trial for a client. I convinced my co-counsel (a junior associate) to use TrialPad, a trial presentation app the college gave me to use on my Digital Initiative iPad for my trial advocacy class, for our visual aids and exhibits during Trial Academy. After showing him everything I could do with TrialPad – call out specific evidence, highlight portions of exhibits, and compare different exhibits (among other things) – he was adamant that we use the app for our trial.

“Because of my training on the iPad and with TrialPad through the Digital Initiative, the trial and our presentation of evidence went off without a hitch. Several partners observed our trial and were all very impressed with TrialPad and everything I could do with it. They kept asking about the app: how it worked, where I got it, etc. The partners were very impressed that I was so proficient in the app and that the College of Law just gave it to me.

“My experience made me realize I could come into a firm like this and actively help modernize the firm and its technology. I realized, because of the Digital Initiative, I could help the legal profession and the practice of law get up to speed on technology.”