SILVER LININGS: WHAT ZOOM SCHOOL TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE, LEARNING, AND LEGAL PRACTICE

      The 2021 Western Regional Virtual Legal Writing Conference included a discussion group of law students on their experience attending law school on Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic. The discussion was guided by the following questions: (1) What worked well about the way your education was delivered on Zoom, and what can be improved? (2) How did you adjust to working in a virtual workplace, and how did your law school prepare you for that transition? (3) What has your experience attending law school on Zoom taught you about yourself, and how do you plan to apply that wisdom in your lives and legal careers?

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Participants & Moderators

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Introduction

ELIZABETH FISHMAN:[1]

      In late February 2020, I was creating lesson plans, grading papers, and sharing chocolates with my legal writing students as we held one-on-one conferences in my office. I handed out tissues to a few students who were feeling overwhelmed and teary and gave hugs to former students who I passed in the hallway. It was just like any other ordinary day on campus. I could not have imagined that in a couple of weeks we would all be sent home, that I would begin teaching on a mysterious platform called Zoom, that I would not physically see my students again for almost two years, and that the traditional ways in which law students and professors built relationships, developed comradery, worked together, socialized, and supported each other would be placed on hold for a very long time.

      The transition to Zoom was challenging for law students and professors alike. However, I have been incredibly impressed by the degree of courage, dedication, tenacity, and perseverance that my students have displayed during the pandemic. In the scariest of times, they held themselves together, attended every Zoom class, stayed engaged in their law school studies, and submitted excellent quality work. During the past two years, my students have grown both personally and professionally in ways that they probably never imagined they would need to, or that they could. And, as the title of the panel suggests, the silver lining of this experience is that they will carry this growth forward with them into their lives and legal careers.

      The goals of this discussion group were to give the students an opportunity to reflect on their experience of learning and working on Zoom, to share the wisdom and skills they developed as a result, and to help us as law professors understand what we have done well and what we can do better as we continue to teach on Zoom, and as we transition back to in-person learning during a still-uncertain time.

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[1] This discussion group was organized and moderated by Elizabeth Fishman, Associate Professor at Golden Gate University School of Law. Students from three different law schools (Golden Gate, U.C. Hastings, and the University of Oregon) participated in the discussion; one who had planned to participate was unable to attend due to an emergency, but the student’s insights are included here.