Law School Recruits Students through Second Life

Students interested in Santa Clara University Law School can pose admissions questions to a virtual character this evening in the online world of Second Life.

Jeanette Leach, dean of admissions at the law school, will answer questions as her online avatar "Penny Canucci," according to The Tech Chronicles blog of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Julia Yaffee, senior assistant dean of external relations, says in a press release that Santa Clara may be the first law school in the United States to interact with prospective students on Second Life.

Other schools, including Stanford, Harvard and Princeton, have used Second Life to teach classes, hold labs and create virtual libraries, The Tech Chronicles says. Rebecca Nesson taught a course on Second Life for a joint project of Harvard’s extension school and its law school, CNN reported in a November 2006 story. The class title was “CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion," according to a later story in Computer World.

The ABA Journal explained how lawyers are using Second Life in a May 2007 story, “Fantasy Life, Real Law.”