September 29, 2025<\/p>\n
It is that time of year again at Temple Law. We have 211 incredible first-year law students who are learning how to read cases, navigate statutes, and think about legal doctrine. They are also participating in our Introduction to Transactional Skills (ITS) program, which is an innovative, experiential course designed to introduce our students to a different\u2014but equally essential\u2014set of legal skills.<\/p>\n
In ITS, students, working in pairs, represent a client looking to open a restaurant with a friend. Half of the students represent Emeril Starr, a rising culinary \u201cstar,\u201d and the other half represent Carly Whitman, an entrepreneur looking to invest in a restaurant. As part of this three-week simulation, the students interview their client, negotiate several agreements with their counterparts who represent the other party to the deal, and draft various contract provisions. Simply put, the students start honing the \u201csoft skills\u201d essential to any type of lawyering. The goal is to highlight how much of legal practice is about relationships, people, and trust.<\/p>\n
And that is what I want to spotlight here\u2014the extraordinary Temple Law community that comes together every September to make ITS the successful course that it is. I have the incredible honor of coordinating this program, and I have one word to describe my feelings about ITS\u2014gratitude.<\/p>\n
It is not easy to run a three-week transactional program for 200 plus new law students. It takes 20 professors, 20 upper-level students, close to 100 alumni, and countless talented, tireless, and generous people from every corner of Temple Law to bring this class to life. And they all do it for one reason\u2014our students.<\/p>\n
To me, ITS represents the best of Temple Law. It reflects our community, our shared values, and our commitment to providing unique transactional and experiential opportunities to our students, beginning in their second week of law school.<\/p>\n
Each year, the Temple 10-Q publishes a piece about ITS, and the unique experience it offers our students. This year, I would simply like to offer my thanks to the hundreds of people\u2014many of whom are readers of the Temple 10-Q\u2014who have participated in and contributed to this special course over the past thirteen years. Whether as a student, a teacher, a judge, or an operational superhero, you are the reason that ITS works. And you are a constant reminder of the strength, enthusiasm, and kindness of our Temple Law community. Thank you . . .<\/p>\n
Andrea Monroe is a Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of law. Her areas of scholarly research include partnership taxation, federal income taxation, and complexity and the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
September 29, 2025 It is that time of year again at Temple Law. We have 211 incredible first-year law students who are learning how to read cases, navigate statutes, and think about legal doctrine. They are also participating in our Introduction to Transactional Skills (ITS) program, which is an innovative, experiential course designed to introduce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":4300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2161],"tags":[1334,786,439,2345,2364,440],"coauthors":[2068],"class_list":["post-4299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-interviewing","tag-introduction-to-transactional-skills","tag-its","tag-law-school-and-legal-education","tag-legal-drafting","tag-negotiation","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"\n