Empathizing with students on the cusp of new careers comes easily to Reena Parambath, an associate teaching professor who directs the law school's Co-op Program.

As a newly minted attorney, Parambath recalls, she felt an acute sense of responsibility for her clients, along with a nagging anxiety.

"I had no idea what a lawyer does on a day to day basis," Parambath said. "I was walking around in a fog for the first year."

After earning her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Parambath had gone straight to law school, without gaining professional experience.

While earning her J.D. at Temple University's James E. Beasley School of Law, Parambath had completed a clinical program at the District Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. But that experience offered scant preparation for her first paid job, working as an assistant city solicitor for the City of Philadelphia Law Department.

"When I needed to write pleadings or letters to clients, I didn't know what the tone should be," she said. "If it came to drafting a complaint, I had no idea where to start. I'm sure my lack of prior professional experience didn't help. It was probably two years before I felt like, 'O.K., I can do this and I'm doing it well.'"

After working for the city for seven years, Parambath moved on to Rawle & Henderson, LLP, where she became a partner after two years, handling litigation and transactions as well as managerial and marketing duties for the firm.

Parambath had recently begun teaching Legal Methods at Widener University's School of Law when she heard about Drexel University's plans to infuse its law school curriculum with opportunities for experiential learning.

"I was very excited," she said. "If I could create a perfect job for myself, this would be it."

Now, Parambath directs the law school's popular Co-op Program, enabling students to gain firsthand experience in settings from law firms to the courts, government agencies, public-interest organizations and corporate in-house counsel offices.

Along with two auxiliary assistant professors of cooperative education, Parambath helps match the students with placements that suit their interests and learning goals. The co-op faculty also lead Lawyering Practice Seminars, where students who are completing co-op placements discuss their experiences in the field.

The seminars provide a forum for talking about everything from ethics in the practical world to handling personality differences in the workplace and developing agendas for professional meetings.

"We try to empower the students," Parambath said.

Along the way, Parambath sometimes finds herself guiding a student in a career direction they had not initially envisioned.

"It's really rewarding when a student has tried something as a result of my counseling, and they end up liking it," she said. "It's even better when they get a job out of it."

Parambath stays active as a practitioner by doing pro bono with the Support Center for Child Advocates, and she soon plans to do volunteer legal work with the Legal Clinic for the Disabled.

"Our law school stands for it," she says. "We're asking our students to do it, and I feel that I should do it, too."