Law Commons^™

Expanding Educational Objectives Through The Undergraduate Business Law Course, Samuel S. Paschall

Akron Law Review

The business law course has the potential to be a rich, valuable educational experience for the college student. But to be so, the course must transcend the mere conveyance of legal information in a format where the instructor's view of the law is set forth in an organized, comprehensive and rote fashion. The law is more than a set of rules to be memorized. A professor should strive to develop students' cognitive skills and present the law as a subject demanding reflection and involving societal values and intellectual practices.' The best means to promote such objectives is to provide a …

The View From My Corner Of The World: A Personal Comment On The Process Of Becoming A Lawyer, Linda B. Klein

Akron Law Review

This comment critiques several aspects of legal education that collectively devolve into what I perceive generally to be a self-perpetuating, institutional dysfunction: a traditional pedagogy, a stifling epistemology,'' and a myopic standardization.

It is my contention that, overall, legal education as presently constituted tends greatly to impede, rather than encourage, students' spiritual and emotional growth as individuals. In both its form and content, this comment confronts directly the conventionalism of law school. Instead of writing one more Law Review article that lacks originality, is boring, humorless, and too long, and has too many footnotes, I am seeking to demonstrate herein …

Law & Lawyering In The Work Place: Building Better Lawyers By Teaching Students To Exercise Critical Judgment As Creative Problem Solver, Alan M. Lerner

Akron Law Review

This article is about the evolution of that course from the earliest planning through its presentation. Hopefully, having the two of us involved in the day-to-day teaching of the course would send the message to our students that collaboration was a positive aspect of the learning and lawyering processes. Additionally, we hoped that the students would see that “academic” and “clinical” faculty are partners in their legal education.

Disabilities, Law Schools, And Law Students: A Proactive And Holistic Approach, Kevin H. Smith

Akron Law Review

The understandable and laudable desire of law schools to comply with federal laws and regulations forbidding discrimination against, and requiring the provision of reasonable accommodations to, qualified disabled law students has diverted attention from the range of disabilities possessed by law students and the spectrum of issues raised by disabled students in law school. This article is intended to serve as a starting point and a means to stimulate the needed examination and discussion.

The Need For Prompt Action To Revise American Law Schools, Richard A. Westin

Akron Law Review

American law students are in a crisis. The ghost fishing crisis was cured when the law required that the lobster trap’s door eventually open, thanks to biodegradable metal hinges or gates. Unfortunately, there is no such relief for the glut of law students. The ABA Journal reports that 85% of graduates from accredited law schools in 2010 were burdened with debts averaging $98,500, but they are graduating into a weak economy where their prospects for employment have narrowed greatly. Students in previous classes have far from been absorbed into the legal industry and classes behind them promise a continuing flow …

What It Means To Be A Lawyer In These Uncertain Times: Some Thoughts On Ethical Participation In The Legal Education Industry, Susan Carle

Akron Law Review

I will first take a quick look in Part II at the basic data regarding employment statistics for recent law school graduates. This is the primary source of concern cited by those who argue that legal education is in profound crisis. What those statistics show, in a nutshell, is that large law firm hiring is down, but that small firm hiring is up by even more significant amounts, and that salaries for employed graduates continue to rise. What also continues to rise is the new law graduate unemployment rate, though not by the exaggerated dimensions some reports imply. New lawyers …

Law Schools And The Legal Profession: A Way Forward, Peter A. Joy

Akron Law Review

This essay proceeds in four parts. Part II briefly examines the disengagement of law schools from the legal profession both in much of the scholarship produced and through courses required for graduation. Part III analyzes why some state bar regulators are imposing admission requirements in response to law schools failing to prepare students better for the practice of law. Part IV discusses the types of bar admission requirements being considered. Finally, in Part V, I argue that rather than being reactive and resistant to change, law schools should be forward looking and incorporate changes that will not only better prepare …

The Changing Face Of Legal Education: Its Impact On What It Means To Be A Lawyer, Thomas D. Morgan

Akron Law Review

I have written a book called The Vanishing American Lawyer. My premise is not that too few people have a legal education. I say, instead, that what people now do with legal training is changing rapidly and likely will continue to become more diverse. That leaves me suggesting that there is little left to the general concept of being a lawyer. Yet people still talk about lawyers, and the question of what it means to be a lawyer is especially timely in light of current American Bar Association efforts to revise the standards by which American law schools are accredited. …