The Project Director sends members information about Law School events, copies of relevant legal news updates and press releases, and reports by the Law School Library Staff concerning legal developments. Cases that come into the demonstration law office are referred out to network members. The most frequent referral areas have been bankruptcy and the most frequent source of referrals to the network have been from the Legal Aid Bureau, Law School faculty members, and community organizations. In addition, network members regularly refer cases to each other. In fact, members developed a list including the name, contact information, and practice area data for all members so as to encourage intra-network referrals.
Members benefit from sharing their experiences with each other.
Through the listserv, members share advice about cases and resources as well as their experiences with various vendors. Members regularly rely on each other s advice with respect to the law, and issues such as technology choices, including purchasing printers, bookkeeping software, etc. Members usually receive same-day answers to questions they post on the listserv. One faculty member observed that having access to a network of other practitioners permits members to practice in areas in which they are not familiar because they have access to mentoring from others with experience who can walk them through the process. This enables practitioners to shift to a different practice area if necessary due to shifts in the economy requiring a related shift to a more economically productive practice area.