Thanks to a partnership between Michigan State University College of Law and ZeekBeek, a national online legal marketplace, MSU Law students will soon be able to build professional online portfolios within a legal professional directory, ultimately helping them build clientele.
The new ZeekBeek-enhanced State Bar of Michigan member directory will include a special law student directory platform, with MSU Law students testing, developing and adopting the platform. As a nationally recognized leader for encouraging students to embrace social media and technology, MSU Law will be the exclusive pilot law school for the new features.
“The goal is to improve connections and communications between law students and practicing attorneys while offering law students the opportunity to present a reliable, complete and polished online presence,” said Daniel Linna Jr., assistant dean for career development at MSU Law.
ZeekBeek is building a comprehensive national online legal marketplace where consumers can find lawyers and where lawyers, legal professionals and now law students can connect with each other. ZeekBeek focuses on credibility, transparency, ethical compliance and improving access to legal services, as well as building connections between members of the legal profession.
“We at ZeekBeek are excited to be collaborating with MSU Law in the build out of a platform that addresses the unique needs of law school students as they prepare for entry to the practicing legal bar,” said Robert Aicher, CEO of ZeekBeek. “MSU Law is nationally known for its efforts to assist students and the legal community to adapt to and flourish in the reality of the new online world, and we are proud that MSU Law has chosen to work with ZeekBeek on this project.”
Among the options being explored for law students:
- Detailed law student profiles
- Participation in online discussion groups with other law students and practicing lawyers
- Creating their own ZeekBeek blog
- Developing content in collaboration with practicing lawyers, and leveraging ZeekBeek’s online platform to publish it
The new platform is expected to launch by July so it can be promoted to incoming first-year MSU Law students in August and other MSU Law students during fall 2015 semester.
“This partnership helps law students engage early on in how to present themselves ethically and effectively in the legal marketplace,” said MSU Law student Brian Pike. “Opportunities like this are the cornerstone for a future where perceptions about lawyers are shifted to generous gatekeepers of knowledge.”
The State Bar of Michigan agrees.
“Helping to develop a special law student directory platform is in line with the strategic focus of the State Bar of Michigan,” said Executive Director Janet Welch. “One of our many goals is to use technology to customize our member services programs to meet the needs of current and future members at every stage of their professional careers.”