Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm Provides Innovative In-House Student Instruction

During the fall 2006 semester Winton Hinkle '68 and Professor David Pierce, Director of the Business and Transactional Law Center, discussed the possibility of pursuing extracurricular programming for students in the law practice environment. Professor Pierce notes

"We wanted to get students 'out-of-the-house' and into the work environment to expose them to lawyers engaged in the practice of law. We decided to conduct our first experiment with this concept during the spring 2007 semester."

Winton Hinkle began by identifying lawyers with the Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm interested in sharing a day with our students at the firm's Wichita offices. Although he had many willing participants, for this experiment the team was assembled from among the firm's extensive cadre of Washburn graduates, including: Donna Bohn '90, Michael Herd '82, Amy Liebau '97, Scott MacBeth '92, Megan Mercer '06, Brian Perkins '05, Scott Pohl '90, and Dale Ward '90.

Winton's team put together a program built around the purchase and sale of a business. Students were provided with a copy of the proposed Purchase and Sale Agreement which they discussed in advance of the program. Twenty students, including first-, second-, and third-year students, participated in the program. The students met at the law school on Friday, April 13, 2007 at 7:00 a.m. and traveled by chartered bus to Hinkle Elouri's offices in downtown Wichita. We arrived at 9:30 a.m. and began a day in the life of the transactional attorney. In addition to exploring the substantive and practical aspects of the purchase and sale, each attorney in the team spent time discussing their personal development as an attorney, their work as a transactional lawyer, and their professional perspective on the practice of law.

One of the highlights of the day was when C.R. Hall, one of the firm's business clients, shared his views about the attorney-client relationship from the client's perspective. Mr. Hall reaffirmed what the students had deduced from their day with the members of the Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm: the importance of a client-oriented law business comprised of capable, dedicated attorneys who appreciate not only the technical aspects of the law practice, but also the practical realities of the business enterprises in which their clients participate.

We returned to the law school and completed our 16-hour excursion into the practice of law. Students found the experience not only educational, but also inspirational. They obtained a glimpse of the future that awaits them — a future of service, dedication to excellence, daily intellectual challenges, and pride in a job well done-a client well served.

Professor Pierce sum's up the experience noting

"I also found it educational, and inspirational. Particularly as I watched lawyer Megan Mercer, who just a year before had been a student in my Commercial Drafting course, now teaching my students. She informed students that their education, in so many ways, begins after law school as they learn how to use the information and skills they have been taught. When Megan joined the Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm the role of 'professor' passed from the Washburn faculty to Dale Ward and the other lawyers at the Hinkle firm to transform Megan from law graduate to lawyer. I am happy to say that the post-law school legal education process is functioning quite well."