Law Commons^™

The Integrated Law School Curriculum, Adam Lamparello

Adam Lamparello

In January 2014, the American Bar Association’s Task Force on the Future of Legal Education stated that “[a]n evolution is taking place in legal practice and legal education needs to evolve with it.” To this end, the Task Force recommended that the law school curriculum “needs to shift still further toward developing the competencies and professionalism required of people who will deliver services to clients.” In fact, the Task Force emphasized that “[a] graduate’s having some set of competencies in the delivery of law and related services, and not just some body of knowledge, is an essential outcome …

Filling The Google Gaps: Harnessing The Power Of Google Through Instruction, Rebecca Mattson

Rebecca A. Mattson

This article discusses teaching proper use of Google and Google Scholar in the legal research classroom.

Learning From And About The Numbers, Carole Silver, Louis Rocconi

Carole Silver

In this article, we enter the debate about the value of legal education, taking aim at the issue of the ways in which law schools prepare students for practice. But rather than focusing on skills training, our concern is with the approach of law schools to preparing students to understanding the context of the legal issues they will encounter, and specifically on their preparation for working with numbers, whether with regard to business, finance or information presented in statistical form generally.

Our contribution to this debate is to emphasize the importance of data in analyzing the value of law school, …

Techniques To Teach Substance And Skill In Contract Drafting: In-Office Meetings And Analytical Memos, Lyman P. Q. Johnson

Lyman P. Q. Johnson

This short article is based on a talk at Emory Law School on Transactional Lawyering. One overall pedagogical aim of a transactional course (or any business contract drafting course) is to link skills training with insistence on in-depth substantive learning about law and business. In this way, skills training – although acknowledged to be practical – also can be recognized as intellectually demanding, a point not always appreciated by proponents of more traditional law teaching. Two techniques for making the connection – in-office meetings and detailed “companion” analytical memos – are described.

Female Law Students, Gendered Self-Evaluation, And The Promise Of Positive Psychology, Dara Purvis

Dara Purvis

For the last several decades, studies and surveys have shown that female law students perform worse and feel worse about their experiences in law school than do male students. Hidden in average figures, however, is a subgroup of female students who thrive. Positive psychology, focusing on what traits make people happy rather than how to alleviate depression, provides novel ideas of how to improve legal education for women without making accommodations specifically targeting gender.

Specialization In Law And Business: A Proposal For A J.D./'Mbl' Curriculum, Robert J. Rhee

Robert Rhee

This paper provides the specific details of how an interdisciplinary program of law and business can be structured in a three-year J.D. program. The program envisioned is a J.D./”M.B.L.”, which is distinguished from the better known J.D./M.B.A. The “M.B.L.” stands for “masters of business law,” which is simply an idea tag. The moniker can represent a program conferring a supplemental degree in law and business, or simply a specialized course of study to complete a J.D. Either way, the program is an interdisciplinary program of concentrated study in core transaction-oriented law courses and core business courses. The most effective education …

Collaboration And Teamwork, Janet Weinstein, Linda H. Morton

Linda H Morton

No abstract provided.

Teamwork, Linda H. Morton, Janet Weinstein

Linda H Morton

No abstract provided.

Globalism From An African Perspective: The Training Of Lawyers For A New And Challenging Reality, Winston P. Nagan, Marcio Santos

Winston P Nagan

This paper deals with the definition and implications of globalism generally and for African interests in particular. Its focus is on globalism as a cluster of social, economic, and political forces contesting for the controlling paradigm of international relations and international law. The article underscores the general issue of globalism's impact on the well-being of the international community. It also considers the impact of globalism on the U.N. Charter, and, in particular, the role of the United Nations in international economic order. The connections between globalism and society are considered as part of the changing character of war and political …

Legal Education In The Americas: The Anchor For Hemispheric Justice, Jon L. Mills

Jon L. Mills

No abstract provided.

Vii. Legal Education In The Americas, A. An Introduction (Proceedings Of The Third Annual Legal & Policy Issues In The Americas Conference), Jon L. Mills

Jon L. Mills

Proceedings of the Third Annual Legal & Policy Issues in the Americas Conference (2002)

Educating To Meet The Demands Of Florida Business And Law Schools - A. Introduction, Jon L. Mills

Jon L. Mills

Proceedings of the Second Annual & Legal and Policy Issues in the Americas, 2001

Remembering Harry Bitner: Law Librarian, Professor, And Wonderful Colleague, Claire M. Germain

Claire Germain

Professor Harry Bitner was an outstanding law librarian who shaped many of our best libraries, who was a mentor to many younger law librarians, and who provided leadership to the law library profession and to legal education generally.

A Tale Of Three “Professions”: Search Engine Optimization, Lawyering & Law Teaching, Ray Campbell

Ray W Campbell

The question has been posed: is legal practice today a profession? This leads, naturally enough, to another question: should society treat it as one? Using the concept of ‘profession’ in different ways, some argue that one thing modern legal practice needs is a good dose of 'professionalism;' others argue that, whatever once might have been true, treating law practice as a ‘profession’ is a rum game best abandoned.

These questions matter. Law enjoys special regulatory privileges and market protections that make little sense if law has become just another form of business – a specialized form of consulting, perhaps. At …

Legal Education In North Carolina: A Report For Potential Students, Lawmakers, And The Public, William D. Henderson, Andrew P. Morriss

Andrew P. Morriss

No abstract provided.

Legal Education In North Carolina: A Report For Potential Students, Lawmakers, And The Public, William D. Henderson, Andrew P. Morriss

Andrew P. Morriss

No abstract provided.

Roll Over Langdell, Tell Llewellyn The News: A Brief History Of American Legal Education, Stephen R. Alton

Stephen Alton

The origin of this essay is a presentation the author made at the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas on December 10, 2008. This essay is derived from the author's presentation, which originally was entitled "A Brief and Highly Selective History of American Legal Education and Jurisprudence. " In this essay, the author provides an overview of the history and development of legal education in America, emphasizing the establishment and evolution of the case method of instruction in American law schools and focusing on the influence of American jurisprudence on the development of legal education in …

Mandatory Prelicensure Legal Internship: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Again, Stephen R. Alton

Stephen Alton

This Article explores the wisdom of imposing an internship requirement on aspiring lawyers as a prerequisite for licensure. It is my position that such a requirement can be beneficial to the new attorney, to the profession, and to the public and should thus be mandated for all those who seek admission to the practice of law. This Article begins by briefly examining the history in the United States of law-office, apprenticeship as a means of legal education. I then proceed to an examination of modern internship requirements in England and Canada. There follows a discussion of some of the more …

Legal Education In The Era Of Globalisation: What Makes For Market Failure?, Darren O'Donovan

Darren O'Donovan

Extract: Higher education is increasingly viewed, particularly in the United States, as a market approaching systemic failure. Legal education has been singled out as a subset of this overall trend, emblematic of a growing disconnect between investment and outcome. Internationalisation adds another layer of complexity and volatility to designing effective interventions that connect students with globalised opportunity. Crucially however, it also provides a chance for a rigorous re-evaluation of the purposes and modalities of legal education, and a greater reflection on sustainable growth rather than the reinforcing of bubble logic. In this chapter, I want to use the concept of …

Crisis And Trigger Warnings: Reflections On Legal Education And The Social Value Of The Law, Kim D. Chanbonpin

Kim D. Chanbonpin

In the same moment that law schools are embracing neoliberal strategies in response to the economic crisis caused by declining admissions, students in the classroom have begun to agitate for advance content notices (or “trigger warnings”) to alert them to any potentially trauma-inducing course materials. For faculty who have already adopted a defensive posture in response to threats to eliminate tenure, this demand feels like an additional assault on academic freedom; one that reflects a distressing student-as-consumer mentality. From this vantage point, students are too easily cast as another group of adversaries when, in actuality, students are straw targets who …

Mindfulness: Foundational Training For Dispute Resolution, Leonard Riskin

Leonard L Riskin

This Article addresses the problem of mindlessness in counseling, negotiating, and mediating, and offers potential solutions and recommendations for developing foundational capacities through training in mindfulness meditation.

Teaching And Learning From The Mediations In Barry Werth's Damages, Leonard L. Riskin

Leonard L Riskin

This essay is based primarily on materials the author developed for courses taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Law, in the winter 2002 and 2003 semesters, based on Barry Werth's book, "Damages."

The Meaning Of Quality, Steven R. Smith

Steven R. Smith

This essay considers the qualities that constitute excellent lawyers in any society. It thereby suggests the qualities that law schools should seek to ensure that their graduates possess as they leave law schools and enter the practice of law.

Financing The Future Of Legal Education: "Not What It Used To Be", Steven R. Smith

Steven R. Smith

This Article will first review the substantial improvements in legal education and track the sources of the funding for these improvements. It will look at whether law school is, and continues to be, a good economic investment for most students. It will then consider the current economic circumstances of legal education and the possible coming disconnect between expectations and reality. It will conclude by considering what could improve the lot of legal education in the future and, to the contrary, what could make matters much worse.

Deaning's Seven Deadly Sins And Seven Deanly Virtues, Steven R. Smith

Steven R. Smith

Deans sin. There are the petty offenses: the occasional missed reception, the student's name forgotten, or the parliamentary gaff at a faculty meeting. These are generally forgiven and dismissed before the next graduation. There are, however, the more serious decanal transgressions that are not so easily forgiven or forgotten. The worst of these are The Seven Deadly Sins of Deaning are Deception, Revenge, Narcissism, Pessimism, Taciturnity, Disloyalty and Aimlessness. The "opposite" evils are noted in italics at the end of each section.

Gresham’S Law In Legal Education, Steven R. Smith

Steven R. Smith

This article will first examine the traditional Gresham's Law regarding currency and then its broader application to instances in which the nominal and intrinsic values of something are separated. It will then look at the licensing of attorneys and how Gresham's Law may justify both the general accreditation of legal education and specific accreditation Standards. Viewed from this perspective it is the interests of the public, and not the more parochial interests of law schools, that deserve primary consideration in accreditation related to licensure. The article will conclude with a consideration of a coming debate about the appropriate place of …

Accreditation Revisited: Aba Reexamination Of Approved Law Schools, Steven R. Smith

Steven R. Smith

No abstract provided.

The Dean And The Budget: Not 'Just A Bunch Of Damn Numbers', Steven R. Smith

Steven R. Smith

The process of developing and implementing a budget is among the most important and least understood responsibilities of deans. When done properly, the budget will move the school toward its goals and promote its mission. When done improperly, the budget will waste the limited resources of the school. This essay first considers the First Principle of Budgets for deans, then discusses procedural issues in developing a successful budget, and finally reviews a number of specific budget issues that law schools face.

Portals To Practice: A Multidimensional Approach To Integrating Experiential Education Into The Traditional Law School Curriculum, Myra Berman

Myra Berman

No abstract provided.

Law Schools And Technology: Where We Are And Where We Are Heading, Michele R. Pistone

Michele R. Pistone

1. For many years, the question of how to use technology to teach the law has been a minor concern of the legal academy. That era of general indifference to developments in learning technologies is now coming to an end. There are many reasons for the change. Law schools are facing such a host of difficulties— declining enrollments, declining job prospects for graduates, reduced public funding, and understandable concerns about cost and debt—that sometimes it seems the only debate is over whether the situation is best described as a “tsunami” or “a perfect storm.” Against this backdrop, technology offers the …