Test Drive! Law School Paying Firms to Hire Graduates

[WSJ Law Blog]

The Law Blog chats with Jon Attanasio, the dean of the law school at SMU, about a new program that pays employers to try out SMU students and graduates before extending to them full-time employment.



We were intrigued last Friday when we read word over at Above the Law that the law school at Southern Methodist University — called the SMU Dedman School of Law — has cranked up a program in which it will pay employers that either give SMU students summer internships or opportunities that might lead to full-time employment.

Over at ATL, Elie Mystal was less than impressed by SMU’s effort, calling “Test Drive,” the program that applies to recent graduates, a “shameless attempt to game the U.S. News rankings.” Mystal acknowledged, however, that if the program works — and more SMU grads find themselves among the ranks of the employed — “nobody will care why the school decided to go in this direction.”

Intrigued, we got in touch with the school’s dean, John Attanasio (pictured) to chat about the program. An edited transcript follows.

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