Lewis & Clark Law School
Teaching the Next Generation of Advocates
Smith Foster King believes that strengthening the legal community includes investing in the next generation of lawyers.
For the past three years, Anne Foster, Jaimee King, and Sam Smith have served as adjunct professors at Lewis & Clark Law School, helping teach its Pretrial Advocacy course alongside experienced lawyers from across Portland's legal community.
The course gives students hands-on experience litigating a simulated case from the initial client interview through summary judgment. Students are divided into plaintiff and defense firms, with practicing lawyers serving as senior partners and mentors throughout the semester.
Anne, Jaimee, and Sam have taught together since the course began, mentoring one of the student firms each year. They work with students on client interviews and counseling, investigation, pleadings, discovery, depositions, case strategy, and summary judgment, sharing practical lessons from their own experience while helping students develop their own judgment and confidence as advocates.
The relationships built through the course sometimes extend well beyond the classroom. Two former Pretrial Advocacy students have joined Smith Foster King as attorneys. Seeing students develop as advocates, and in some cases later welcoming them as colleagues, has been an especially rewarding part of the experience.
SFK is proud to join lawyers from firms, government agencies, and other organizations throughout Portland who give their time to Lewis & Clark and its students.
