Mentoring Opportunities Through the Data Privacy Practicum

at the University of Minnesota Law School

Dear Colleague:
I hope you will consider serving as a mentor for students at the University of Minnesota Law School who
are interested in data privacy law. The Data Privacy Practicum is an exciting new initiative that we have
developed with the cooperation and support of the International Association of Privacy Professionals
(IAPP). Students will gain insight into privacy practice, study for their CIPP certification exams, and
write a short memo about a cutting-edge privacy issue. But we need help from our Twin Cities privacy
community to make it work!
There are two primary roles for mentors, and you can volunteer for one or even better both. You
will help to build the future of privacy practice, serve as a role model for a law student just defining his or
her own career path, and also get to know a young person who is excited to learn from you. Sound like
fun? Read on.
Shadowing opportunities
A full-dress internship is a large commitment for the sponsoring organization, students, and the law
school alike. Because the purpose of the practicum is to introduce students to the real life of a privacy
professional, this course will instead include a shadowing opportunity. I will pair each student with a
local privacy lawyer for approximately 20 hours of shadowing experiencing your day in the life.
Think of it as Take your Law Student Mentee to Work Day. (If some of the shadows do lead to
internships or jobs, of course thats lovely, but it isnt really the goal.)
Certainly the shadowing time might include giving students research assignments. This could be the
perfect opportunity to get help with that long-range research project that has been on your wish list for
months. But you do not need to manufacture anything like that if you dont have something in mind. I
hope you can have the student accompany you to for example meetings, a speech you are giving, or
a staff training you are conducting. You can also arrange for the student connect with your privacyinvolved colleagues if thats feasible. Basically, I want to give the students an opportunity to be a fly on
the wall and experience what its like to practice privacy law.
Scheduling is flexible depending on your needs, the students other commitments, and the times when
there are interesting things for the student to see or do. We will start shadowing in late March and run it
through the end of April. The 20 or so hours could be arranged anywhere during that period; for example,
it could be three full work days or five or six mornings.
Students can sign nondisclosure agreements where necessary, and even then we all recognize that some
activities will be too sensitive for students to witness; when that happens, they will sit in an armchair
outside and read for their other classes. Perhaps, though, you can give them a digest afterwards about
what happened.

Practitioner presentations
The full group will meet for an hour on Thursdays at 2:30, and I am hoping to have a wide variety of
guest speakers in about six of those sessions who will come in talk about (1) a key or hot issue they are
facing in their practice, (2) what your day in the life is like, and (3) your how I got where I am today
narrative about your career path, the choices you made on the way, and the luck that helped you along.
Some suggestions of possible substantive topics for practitioner presentations include the following, but
you absolutely should propose your own. The topic is important to start the conversation, but the explicit
career-planning aspects are equally important. The students are all covering comprehensive substance in
other privacy courses.

GDPR and uncertainty about EU

Data security

Vendor management

Class action litigation (TCPA, FCRA, etc.)

Spokeo v. Robins decision

Drones, facial recognition, connected cars, etc. etc.

If you think you could agree to fill one or both of these roles, or if you have questions, please contact me
at billmcg@umn.edu or (612) 625-6047. Feel free to forward this invitation to other colleagues who you
think might be interested. And I hope to see you as part of the Data Privacy Practicum this semester!
Best wishes,

Bill McGeveran
Associate Professor of Law and Solly Robins Distinguished Research Fellow