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Full-Text Articles in Law
Legal Education At A Crossroads: Innovation, Integration, And Pluralism Required!, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez, Robert F. Seibel, Peggy Maisel, Karen Tokarz
Legal Education At A Crossroads: Innovation, Integration, And Pluralism Required!, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez, Robert F. Seibel, Peggy Maisel, Karen Tokarz
Faculty Scholarship
We conclude in this Article that expanded practice-based, experiential education will provide foundational learning for the successful transition from law student to law practice, and that clinical education (in-house clinics, hybrid clinics, and externships) is crucial to the preparation of competent, ethical law graduates who are "ready to become professionals." We urge law schools to require each graduate complete a minimum of twenty-one experiential course credits over the three years of law school, including at least five credits in law clinics or externships. Twenty-one required credits (or roughly 25 percent of the eighty-three required credits for graduation from an American …
Learning Through Service In A Clinical Setting: The Effect Of Specialization On Social Justice & Skills Training, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez
Learning Through Service In A Clinical Setting: The Effect Of Specialization On Social Justice & Skills Training, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez
Faculty Scholarship
Arguing against the trend toward specialization in clinical legal education, this essay addresses potential limitations of specialized legal clinics in furthering the dual mission of clinical legal education: social justice and skills training. It points out that specialized clinics limit access to justice by leaving the myriad needs of clients partially unmet. They limit students' learning about the complex needs of clients and students' ability to discover broad inequities in the legal system. Specialization makes it more difficult to train students to be creative problem solvers, and affects their professional socialization