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Legal Profession

Pepperdine University

Reform

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Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

A Blueprint For Change, William D. Henderson Feb 2013

A Blueprint For Change, William D. Henderson

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article discusses the financial viability of law schools in the face of massive structural changes now occurring within the legal industry. It then offers a blueprint for change - a realistic way for law schools to retool themselves in an attempt to provide our students with high quality professional employment in a rapidly changing world. Because no institution can instantaneously reinvent itself, a key element of Professor Henderson's proposal is the 12% solution: approximately 12% of faculty members take the lead on building a competency-based curriculum that is designed to accelerate the development of valuable skills and behaviors prized …


The Future Of Legal Education Reform, James E. Moliterno Feb 2013

The Future Of Legal Education Reform, James E. Moliterno

Pepperdine Law Review

As a historical matter, the legal profession obstinately resists change. Its ponderous, backward-looking and self-preservationist characteristics are embodied in the ABA's Ethics 20/20 Commission, which endeavors to protect, preserve, and maintain. But the profession suffers from such thinking. It must look forward; grow more attuned to outside events and trends; and become a player in how change is assimilated into established ways, and how established ways are replaced by more effective ones. Law schools require reform. The academic focus bears little relation to the reality of practice. Graduates must better able to contribute to clients of law firms and to …


Legal Education: Rethinking The Problem, Reimagining The Reforms, Deborah L. Rhode Feb 2013

Legal Education: Rethinking The Problem, Reimagining The Reforms, Deborah L. Rhode

Pepperdine Law Review

Whether or not law schools are in a crisis, it is certainly true that legal education currently faces a number of significant challenges. The fundamental problem is a lack of consensus over what the problem is. Legal educators and regulators are developing well-intended but inadequate responses to the symptoms, not the causes of law school woes. In addition to identifying the problem, this Article discusses potential reforms. Financial issues represent a significant source of much of the current criticisms face by law schools today. Tuition rates have increased at a pace far outstripping the steep hikes seen at universities as …


Reforming Lawyers Into Irrelevance?: Reconciling Crisis And Constraint At The Office Of Legal Counsel , Peter Margulies Sep 2012

Reforming Lawyers Into Irrelevance?: Reconciling Crisis And Constraint At The Office Of Legal Counsel , Peter Margulies

Pepperdine Law Review

A Predator drone attack in Pakistan and the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that the Bush administration used on suspected terrorists have at least one thing in common: legal advice. While advice given the Obama administration on drones has received only a partial airing, disclosure that lawyers in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) authorized coercive interrogation after 9/11 has ignited a wide-ranging debate on reform and accountability. However, the volume of calls for reform has exceeded consideration of the competing values at stake. Some reformers stress the need to combat a climate of impunity with formal sanctions such as …