Cassandra Groves didn't know what litigation management or electronic discovery were when she was a student at Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law—she planned to leverage her law degree and dual master's in public policy and administration for a career in state government. But when her career counselor suggested she apply for a two-year residency program at legal process outsourcing firm UnitedLex Corp., Groves was intrigued.

Sixteen months after taking the job, Groves manages a team of document reviewers in India as they examine evidence in international disputes. She works alongside law firm partners and clients to develop litigation strategy and is responsible for keeping her projects on time and on budget. “I was skeptical [of the residency] at first,” says Groves, who graduated from Moritz in 2013. “But I was also really surprised. It's a legal job, but there is a lot of management and collaboration involved.”

Groves was among the first hired under UnitedLex's legal residency program—a collaboration between the legal services firm and four law schools. Graduates get two years of hands-on training in litigation management, discovery, cybersecurity, intellectual property and more. The model is a medical residency.