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Legal Education

Cleveland State University

Legal Education

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The Moral Lawyer And The Machiavellian Nature Of Law Practice, David Barnhizer Sep 2015

The Moral Lawyer And The Machiavellian Nature Of Law Practice, David Barnhizer

David Barnhizer

In Western culture the name Niccolo Machiavelli has become Machiavellianism, a pejorative signifying the willingness to do anything to achieve desired ends. American lawyers do have limits, however, and are expected to operate according to an ethical code that is at least intended to prevent the worst abuses. The effectiveness of this ethical code has often been questioned, as have the questionable efforts of the organized bar to enforce its rules, but on the surface it differentiates law practice from hand-to-hand combat and military struggles. Even though I have sometimes used the concepts of the warrior lawyer, the general and …


The Aging Of The American Law Professoriate, David Barnhizer Jan 2014

The Aging Of The American Law Professoriate, David Barnhizer

David Barnhizer

A recent (rather tasteless) article argued: “Professors approaching 70 … have an ethical obligation to step back and think seriously about quitting. If they do remain on the job, they should at least openly acknowledge they’re doing it mostly for themselves.” In “The Forever Professors: Academics Who Don’t Retire Are Greedy, Selfish, and Bad For Students”, the insensitive author added: “the number of professors 65 and older more than doubled between 2000 and 2011.” The author’s most intellectually savage comments were that: “faculty who delay retirement harm students, who in most cases would benefit from being taught by someone younger …


"Practice Ready" Law Graduates, David Barnhizer Jan 2013

"Practice Ready" Law Graduates, David Barnhizer

David Barnhizer

Whatever view one holds on the idea of “practice ready” law graduates in the abstract it seems clear that it does not and could not mean that a new graduate can be fully capable of providing high quality services across the board to clients unfortunate enough to be using the services of the neophyte lawyer. If that were the case I can hear a client’s conversation with the brand new lawyer in a complex corporate merger with numerous parties, millions of dollars at stake, estate and tax issues, patent rights and differing valuations for the deal. “How many of these …


Methods For Teaching Environmental Law: Some Thoughts On Providing Access To The Environmental Law System, Heidi Gorovitz Robertson Jan 1998

Methods For Teaching Environmental Law: Some Thoughts On Providing Access To The Environmental Law System, Heidi Gorovitz Robertson

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article surveys methods that could improve the effectiveness of environmental legal education. I propose that approaches to teaching environmental law be viewed in two ways; first, as a substantive course in which students gain access to a complex system of law, and second, as a substantive base for teaching students skills of legal process. Within both possibilities, I focus on the value of teaching students to understand the environmental law system. Instructors can introduce students to the environmental law system by looking at a few of the major environmental statutes in relative depth, or as they apply to specific …