Law Commons^™

Reimagining Langdell's Legacy: Puncturing The Equilibrium In Law School Pedagogy, Laura A. Webb

Law Faculty Publications

For more than 150 years, legal education has largely followed the course charted by Christopher Columbus Langdell when he became dean of Harvard Law School in 1870. Langdell’s innovations included the case method, high-stakes summative assessments, and preferences for faculty members with experience in “learning law” rather than practicing it. His proposals were innovative and responsive to challenges in legal education at the time, but this Article argues that taking Langdell’s approach to reform—including a willingness toimplement radical changes in the face of institutional shortcomings—requires reimagining his methods for the benefit of today’s students. We identify key deficiencies of the …

Introduction: Family Court Review Special Issue Dynamic Pedagogy In The Family And Juvenile Law Classroom: Experiential And In-Class Exercises, Meredith Johnson Harbach

Law Faculty Publications

Over the last number of years, the legal academy has placed increasing emphasis on the need to diversify teaching methods, and in particular, has focused on expanding in-class, experiential teaching methods. Educational research confirms that learning experientially has multiple benefits for adult learners, including better retention of material, the ability to explore a more diverse range of representation contexts, the development and use of a broader range of analytical skills, and an emphasis professional collaboration and growth.1Consistent with this evolution of the scholarship on teaching and learning in law school, ABA Standard 303(a)(3) requires all students to complete“ one or …

Why Legal Writers Should Think Like Teachers, Laura A. Webb

Law Faculty Publications

This article proposes that new legal writers can improve their work by “thinking like teachers.” I assert that legal writing is fundamentally educative. Good writing thus requires good teaching. The article discusses the “curse of knowledge,” which makes it difficult for a writer who fully understands her topic to remember how a reader who is less knowledgeable about the topic will approach the material. It then explores three concepts from the science of learning — context, chunking, and connections — and discusses how a writer can use these concepts to effectively teach her readers.

Law, Universities, And The Challenge Of Moving A Graveyard, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Carel Stolker's book, Rethinking the Law School.

Omg - The Internet Is Amazing, Joyce Manna Janto

Law Faculty Publications

Maybe even more useful than the source lists are the original articles by Rick such as “Federal Administrative Law: A Brief Overview” and “Federal Legislative History Research: A Practitioner’s Guide to Compiling the Documents and Sifting for Legislative Intent.” These publications are invaluable to both the novice and the more experienced researcher who may not conduct legislative research on a regular basis. They keep researchers up to date on what can be found where -- either on free or commercial databases. Using the Source Book is still a way to save valuable research time.

Minor Federal Government Regulatory Agencies, Kathleen Klepfer

Law Faculty Publications

Rick McKinney’s “Federal Administrative Law: A Brief Overview” is a succinct and helpful place to find information about rulemaking, common administrative law statutes, and the major administrative agencies. But what about those unsung heroes, the minor regulatory agencies whose necessity—and sometimes purpose—are lost to history? We propose this addendum to Rick’s article to give a couple of these minor agencies their due.

Preserving The Llsdc Legislative Source Book With Perma.Cc, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

With LLSDC’s Legislative Source Book, Rick McKinney was constantly concerned about the collection’s stability, functionality, and availability. With any major revision to the LLSDC.org website, Rick worked to ensure that content was accessible and that he and members of the Legislative Research SIS could keep it updated. In an effort to preserve the Legislative Source Book, the collection’s core elements were captured using the Perma.cc service. These links reference archived versions of each source, presented in parallel to its current form. There is more depth and detail than presented here, which shows the collection’s complex and comprehensive coverage.

Leveraging Narratives: Communicating Value With Qualitative Content, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

The contemporary law library is embodied by its information resources, physical space, technology infrastructure, and the people who make it all happen. Each of these elements can change dramatically with new information tools, shifting organizational demands and emerging service models.

Honoring Rick Mckinney And Llsdc’S Legislative Source Book, Roger V. Skalbeck, Joyce Manna Janto, Kathleen Klepfer

Law Faculty Publications

In this essay, through three vignettes inspired by the Legislative Source Book, we honor Rick McKinney for his role as the collection’s guiding light and leading author. We also provide a list of permanent links suitable for scholarly citation, where major parts of the collection are now archived online.

Pro Bono At University Of Richmond School Of Law, Tara L. Casey

Law Faculty Publications

“Pro bono” is often the first legal Latin that a law student learns, before other courses come in with their res ipsa loquitur and in flagrante delicto. The reason for this primacy is the greater emphasis law schools have placed upon pro bono programming in the past ten to fifteen years.

Scholarship Against Desire, Shari Motro

Law Faculty Publications

This article uses my own experience navigating the law review placement process to reflect on the dynamics that shape intellectual life at American law schools. My recent work focuses on the legal relationship between unmarried lovers who conceive. At its heart, it is about the law’s role in shaping the precursor to pregnancy—heterosexual sex. When I began researching this topic what I was most curious about was how law and culture might conspire to foster connections that are more loving and less violent, more authentic and less alienated. Pursuing this topic—which would entail exploring big existential questions to which I …

Law, Universities, And The Challenge Of Moving A Graveyard, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

Against this dark narrative genre, Carel Stolker‘s new book, Rethinking the Law School, stands in sharp contrast. Having been both a law school dean and university president at Leiden University in The Netherlands, Stolker brings the perspective of a dean who has sought to innovate, and of a university president who has dealt with the political, academic, financial, and managerial complications of a modern university. The book offers a broad look at legal education around the world, along with a thoughtful exposition of the challenges facing law schools and law deans. Stolker is no cheerleader for the current state of …

Teaching To The Test: The Incorporation Of Elements Of The Bar Exam Preparation In Legal Education, Emmeline Paulette Reeves

Law Faculty Publications

This essay stops far short of advocating for a three-year bar exam course in place of a traditional law school education. It does not even argue for dedicating the final semester of law school to bar exam preparation. Rather, it suggests that the incorporation of elements of bar preparation into the law school curriculum actually can accomplish the dual objectives of, first, making law school education more efficient, and, second, enhancing the students' educational experience and grasp of the legal principles and skills necessary for passing the bar and, ultimately, becoming better lawyers.

Specifically, this essay urges law schools and …

Education & Practice (Newsletter Of The Section On Education Of Lawyer, Virginia State Bar) - V. 23, No. 1 (Fall 2014), Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

Contents

Learning Styles and Problem-Solving: What Difference Does Our Teaching Make?, by Eric DeGroff, Professor of Law at Regent University

Chair’s Column, by Professor Jim Moliterno

Section’s Website Update

Law Faculty News

News and Events Around the Commonwealth

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award

2014-2015 Board of Governors

Education & Practice (Newsletter Of The Section On Education Of Lawyer, Virginia State Bar) - V. 22, No. 2 (Spring 2014), Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

Contents

The Richmond Legal Development Center: Virginia’s First Legal Incubator, by Eppa Hunton VI, the Managing Director of the Richmond Legal Development Center

From Crisis to Innovation, by Jeffrey Brauch, the Dean of Regent University School of Law

Chair’s Column, by Professor A. Benjamin Spencer of Washington and Lee School of Law

Section’s Website Update

Virginia Supreme Court Senior Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Receives Leadership in Education Award

Law Faculty News

News and Events Around the Commonwealth

2013-2014 Board of Governors

Public Policy Research & Drafting: A Pro Bono And Law Library Collaboration, Tara L. Casey, Suzanne B. Corriell

Law Faculty Publications

As the Carrico Center for Pro Bono Service at the University of Richmond School of Law continued to grow its programs, forays into the areas of public policy and advanced legal research grew as well. for a number of years, our law students volunteered with nonprofit organizations during the General Assembly session, learning firsthand how issues develop into policy, which sometimes then develops into Jaw. This experience required our students to expand their legal research and writing skills beyond the traditional case law and brief writing methods. Furthermore, a growing number of students were interested in pursuing legislative or public …

The Dominance Of Teams In The Production Of Legal Knowledge, Christopher A. Cotropia

Law Faculty Publications

While collaboration is familiar to some legal researchers, the field, for the most part, does not seem to implicate the large-scale complexity and cost that has become associated with big science. These logistical differences, combined with a very strong cultural preference in legal academic circles for solitary work, could potentially keep team research from dominating the production of legal knowledge to the same extent that it has come to dominate the production of knowledge in other areas. On the other hand, the dominance of team research outputs and a shift towards team research has been observed in social sciences and …

Using Experiential Education To Develop Human Resources For The Nonprofit Community: A Course Study Analysis, Ann C. Hodges

Law Faculty Publications

In this era of shrinking resources and increased pressure to produce "practice-ready" lawyers, law schools are seeking new and cost-effective ways to provide experiential education. This article reports and analyzes the results of a survey of graduates and students from a course in Nonprofit Organizations that incorporated a community-based project designed to develop skills, enhance learning and encourage post-graduation involvement with nonprofits. Although limited to one course, this course study, like a case study, offers valuable information. Consistent with other research on experiential education, the survey supports the conclusion that such projects, while less resource intensive and comprehensive than clinics, …

Education & Practice (Newsletter Of The Section On Education Of Lawyer, Virginia State Bar) - V. 21, No. 1 (Spring 2013), Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

Contents

Changing the Dynamics of Legal Education: Now What About that “Professional Responsibility” Class?, by Leslie Haley, Esq., founder of Haley Law PLC in Midlothian, VA.

Chair’s Column, Professor A. Benjamin Spencer of Washington and Lee School of Law

Work of the ABA’s Standards Review Committee, by Thomas Edmonds, Distinguished Visiting Professor at Charleston School of Law.

William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award

Law Faculty News

News and Events Around the Commonwealth

Section’s Website Update

2012-2013 Board of Governors

Pointing Out The Power Of Prezi, Part I: Why Consider Prezi, Paul M. Birch

Law Faculty Publications

This article introduces Prezi, the online presentation software which has emerged as a most promising alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint. Part I offers a basic description of Prezi, points out widely perceived shortcomings of PowerPoint, and considers whether Prezi can remedy them.

Pointing Out The Power Of Prezi, Part Ii: Learning To Use Prezi, Paul M. Birch

Law Faculty Publications

This article introduces Prezi, the online presentation software which has emerged as a most promising alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint. Part II provides a tutorial designed to acquaint the user with the basic steps in creating a presentation, and offers additional advice for effective use of Prezi.

Salvaging The 2013 Federal Law Clerk Hiring Season, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Ten years ago, the judiciary instituted the Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan, an employment system meant to regularize hiring in which most circuit and district court jurists voluntarily participated. Throughout the succeeding decade, this process operated effectively for innumerable trial judges, but functioned less well for appellate jurists. In early 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit revealed that all its members "will hire law clerks at such times as each individual judge determines to be appropriate," concomitantly explaining "the plan is [apparently] no longer working." With these statements, the D.C. Circuit explicitly acknowledged what …

Top Ten Law School Home Pages Of 2012, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

For the fourth consecutive year, we try to identify law school home pages that are well-executed and adopt best practices. We evaluated all ABA-accredited home pages based on objective criteria. The attempt is to find the best-designed, best-performing sites.

Tips For Capturing 2014 Federal Court Clerkships, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Now is a perfect moment for analyzing 2014 clerkships because law students across the country have completed their productive summer employment and are poised to commence their final year. Below are ideas which could help aspirants secure those coveted positions that start during next August.

Experiential Education In The Lecture Hall, Jessica Erickson

Law Faculty Publications

Legal education today is composed of two separate worlds. The first world includes clinical faculty, law skills faculty, and other related faculty. These faculty members have long embraced experiential education, and they organize and attend conferences like the "Experience the Future" symposium, hosted by Northeastern University School of Law and the Alliance for Experiential Learning in Law. The other world includes people like me- doctrinal faculty members who are still largely teaching the way we always have. As we see it, our role is to teach doctrine and legal analysis, leaving skills training and other experiential teaching to others. Experiential …

Ideas For Law Students And Recent Graduates Entering The Real World, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

In light of a more challenging job market for law school graduates due to the recession, the Virginia Lawyer asked the deans of Virginia's law schools for their thoughts on how law students could better prepare themselves for their employment searches. This was Dean Wendy Perdue's contribution.

Educating New Lawyers, Tara L. Casey

Law Faculty Publications

In this article, the author discusses how law schools have been challenged recently to place greater emphasis on preparing students for the realities of legal practice through skills training and community-based learning.

Tribute To Professor Carroll: “Without A Doubt”, W. Wade Berryhill

Law Faculty Publications

A tribute to Professor John Carroll.

Education & Practice (Newsletter Of The Section On Education Of Lawyer, Virginia State Bar) - V. 20, No. 2 (Spring 2012), Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

Contents

Ethical Practice within Interdisciplinary Collaborations: The Law School Clinic as an Example, by Portia Cole, Asst. Professor at the Virginia Commonwealth School of Social Work

Chair’s Column, by Professor A. Benjamin Spencer of Washington and Lee School of Law

Beyond the Blame Game, by Jayne W. Barnard, Cutler Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School

William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award

Law Faculty News

News and Events Around the Commonwealth

Section’s Website Update

2011-2012 Board of Governors

How Are Law Schools Addressing Major Changes In The Practice Of Law And In Accrediting Standards For Legal Education?, Margaret Ivey Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

There was a consensus at the first panel discussion on how law schools are addressing major changes in legal practice and accrediting standards for legal education, that law schools are doing a good job teaching critical thinking and legal analysis. A recurring theme was that more experiential legal education is needed to help students become "practice ready." Deficits in legal writing, problem solving, and understanding the various contexts within which legal problems arise were concerns. A major issue is how do schools enhance legal education given the unsustainable costs and changes in the legal profession?