The Virtual Law Firm Assessor (Business Law Assessor, Criminal Law Assessor, Family Law and Real Estate Assessor) is a lawyer who can assess student assignments during the Virtual Law Firm phase of PREP. Assessors do not need to be experienced in a particular practice area or practice within the jurisdiction of the students to which they are assessing.

The Virtual Law Firm rotations will require students to manage simulated client files for their fictional supervising lawyers. These deliverables may take the form of video recorded advocacy, interviews, negotiations, written correspondence, memorandums, contracts, or court documents. Students will upload their assignments to the online learning environment, D2L and assessors will use a competency-based rubric to mark the assignments and to provide developmental feedback to students. 

CPLED will train assessors on the rubrics and provision of constructive feedback. As part of the training, assessors will assess sample assignments, which will be benchmarked to ensure consistency. CPLED uses an online plagiarism program to detect potential breaches of academic integrity.

Qualifications and skills
Practised in Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut and/or Saskatchewan for a minimum of five years.

Honorarium
Each rotation of the Virtual Law Firm has a different time commitment and a different number of assignments that require assessment. Virtual Firm Assessors must commit to assessing a minimum of five students per Virtual Law Firm rotation and will receive honorariums as follows:

• Business Law rotation $150/student, it is estimated to take four hours to assess a student.
• Criminal Law rotation $150/student, it is estimated to take three hours to assess a student.
• Family Law and Real Estate $240/student, it is estimated to take seven hours to assess a student.

Training
Virtual Law Firm Assessors will be required to attend a one and a half-hour orientation session as well as the calibration session for each rotation of the Virtual Law Firm they will be assessing. Please note that training and calibration sessions will not be compensated but are requirements for the position.

Technology requirements
Access to a computer with a reliable high-speed internet connection