In August, the Gould School of Law announced a new center that will utilize USC’s alumni network and Los Angeles’ proximity to the sports, entertainment, media and technology industries to provide students with hands-on experience in these fields.

The center will focus on four main pillars: interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning, industry connections and legal analysis, according to the center’s new website. The center will focus on bridging the gap between legal education and real-world experience by inviting speakers and hosting networking events, according to a news article on Gould’s website. 

“The combination of the physical location and all of the industry professionals, both alums and non-alums, I think, give[s] us unique access to things that, say, a law school on the East Coast wouldn’t have access to,” said Jeff Schneider, the center’s inaugural executive director. “I don’t think there’s anywhere, anywhere else in America other than Los Angeles, where you can get them all in one.”

Schneider said students will work directly on cases in the L.A. area and gain legal experience working with young athletes and artists who may not be able to afford legal assistance.

“We have the raw tools to be strong in all those [sports, entertainment, media and technology law] areas. And I think that being able to just organize, to have somebody that, just for once, puts it all together, organizes it into a cohesive plan with programming and initiatives and follow through, will be a huge improvement,” Schneider said.

Melia Harlan, a third-year law student, said Gould’s clinics, which provide students with direct experience working with clients, are one of the best things about the law school. This program will allow Gould to sponsor clinical opportunities for students, making it easier for students to get involved, according to the website. 

“So much of L.A. is centered around the entertainment industry, so I think it’s really awesome that we have something to give students more of a hands-on experience working on entertainment matters this early. It seems like it’ll be a big draw for students coming to USC,” Harlan said. 

Schneider said the short-term vision for the center includes increasing events focused on sports, entertainment and technology for both undergraduate and graduate students at Gould because there is no established pathway to enter those industries. 

“We want people to come to campus and give us the opportunity for our students to meet them and to network with them and to start doing that networking,” Schneider said, “and start doing that relationship building that they’re going to need when they graduate, and in fact, they’re probably going to need it before.”

The center will also aim to collaborate with other schools at the University to establish an interdisciplinary curriculum, Schneider said. For example, if a student in the film school is interested in entertainment law, they could go to Gould to get a certificate in entertainment law, providing students with an edge in that field. 

Schneider said the center will improve Gould’s ability to cater to students’ specific career interests by having speakers who are willing to meet and form relationships with students coming to campus.

Camille Shaw, a third-year law student, said the new program’s experiential learning opportunities are exciting.

“The experiential learning has been pretty great here [at Gould], and you get a lot of [learning] experiences out in the field, and it feels very helpful to be doing something that’s real,” Shaw said.

Although the new center does not have a physical space yet, an expansion of Gould is being planned, Schneider said. 

“It’s not going to stop us from doing what we want, but it would be a lot easier to have a place where we know that both the students and the alumni in those four disciplines are always welcome and can always come home to,” Schneider said. “That means a lot to have a physical space for people, especially in areas that have traditionally not been included in the main areas of legal education.”