Product Description
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Abstract
This simulation puts students into the role of the newly-appointed regulatory director of the fictional Felix Institute—a start-up incubator and policy advocate for school-to-work transitions.
There has recently been much debate on the validity of unpaid internships—a topic highly relevant to the Institute’s work. Students are given materials to review on both sides of the argument, and are asked to articulate an appropriate policy approach that fits into the current legal framework. Students must then defend their policy on their feet.
The simulation is taught in the Problem Solving Workshop at Harvard Law School, a required 1L course. It is also well suited for lawyering skills classes, simulation courses that encourage hands-on learning, and courses on lawyers as advocates.
Time allotted for teaching: in the HLS course, the case study is taught over three class periods, but could be condensed into one or two class periods. Students are tasked with writing a policy memo, devising a legal test to determine criteria for FLSA employee status, and presenting their proposal before a fictional board of directors.
Table of Contents
This problem set consists of three parts:
- Part 1-The Problem First E-mail from Executive Director to You: An email assignment from the students’ boss asking for a policy position on unpaid internships.
- Part 2-Problem Continued Second E-mail from Executive Director to You: An e-mail assignment from the students’ boss to write a proposed comment and a memo to the Board defending the comment.
- Part 3 - Relevant Law A compilation of the relevant law
Learning Objectives
Primary Objective: Students will endeavor to articulate the appropriate policy approach to a controversial problem for which the best solution is not obvious, no matter where one sits on the political spectrum.
Secondary Objectives: Students will…
1) Develop the systems thinking necessary to address a multi-stakeholder policy problem as an independent advocate.
2) Appreciate the difficulty of making policy decisions with limited information.
3) Begin to understand the virtues and challenges of using statistics in policymaking.
Subjects Covered
Labor law
Labor Rights Lawyers as Advocates
Simulations
Setting
Geographic: United States
Industry: Employment, Higher Education
Event Year Begin: January, 2016
Accessibility
To obtain accessible versions of our products for use by those with disabilities, please contact the HLS Case Studies Program at hlscasestudies@law.harvard.edu or +1-617-496-1316.
Educator Materials
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Copyright Information
Please note that each purchase of this product entitles the purchaser to one download and use. If you need multiple copies, please purchase the number of copies you need. For more information, see Copying Your Case Study.