Jim Fry
Professor
Degree Program: Legal Studies
Program Description: Out of the class and into the field
Gaining a competitive edge
What's striking initially about Champlain's Legal Studies program is how much time you spend out of class and in the field.
Jim Fry calls the 165-hour practicum "one of the hallmarks of the program at Champlain College." The field experience competitively places students in a variety of employment areas including traditional law firms, state and federal agencies, banks and insurance firms, the State's Attorney's and Public Defender's Offices and the offices of Vermont court clerks. "We want our graduates to enter the field with a solid foundation of the profession," Jim explains. "This field experience, which is done under professional supervision, is completed in conjunction with classroom seminars to provide our students with many opportunities to apply their classroom studies while actually working in the legal profession.
"Our approach to education," Jim continues, "has made our graduates actively sought by the Vermont legal community and gives them a competitive edge in relation to graduates across the country. Our curriculum provides both the skills and the substantive knowledge of the law that our students need to graduate with a dynamic, viable education. At the same time the program maintains the flexibility necessary to meet the ever-changing needs of the profession and society." Constant review of the curriculum by the faculty and the program's advisory board ensures that new courses are added and existing courses are reviewed and updated to keep the program current.
Jim brings to his courses in Paralegal and Business Law the substantive knowledge of the material coupled with 22 years' experience in practicing law. "I present situations that my students are familiar with and elicit their responses to heighten their abilities to think critically. I also relate the material to other areas of our cultural and history, and engage students through various media."
Game Art created by student Joseph Dionisio