Legal Education Commons^™

Developing A Teacher Training Program For New Clinical Teachers, Wallace J. Mlyniec

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Where to Begin? Training New Teachers in the Art of Clinical Pedagogy, an article published in the Spring, 2012, issue of the Clinical Law Review, gave a full description of Georgetown’s course in clinical pedagogy. That article set forth some of the critical questions new teachers must ask and answer by describing the goals, content, and execution of the course.

This article describes hows, whens, and whys of the program, focusing on how our faculty, over a period of many years, created and revised the curriculum for the Pedagogy course. It also describes the choices we made as we …

Foreword: Academic Influence On The Court, Neal K. Katyal

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The months leading up to the Supreme Court’s blockbuster decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were characterized by a prodigious amount of media coverage that purported to analyze how the legal challenge to Obamacare went mainstream. The nation’s major newspapers each had a prominent story describing how conservative academics, led by Professor Randy Barnett, had a long-term strategy to make the case appear credible. In the first weeks after the ACA’s passage, the storyline went, the lawsuit’s prospects of success were thought to be virtually nil. Professor (and former Solicitor General) Charles Fried stated that he would “eat a …

Advancing Social Justice As Lawyers: And How Social Media Can Be Part Of Your Effort, Chai R. Feldblum

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Commencement Address to the 2012 Graduating Class of UCLA Law, May11, 2012 at UCLA Law School.

Professor Chai Feldblum's theme is how you can be part of advancing social justice as lawyers–-and how the time that people might say you are “wasting” on social media (be it Twitter or FB or whatever you may use) can, in fact, be an essential part of social justice work.

Where To Begin? Training New Teachers In The Art Of Clinical Pedagogy, Wallace J. Mlyniec

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Legal educators and the legal academy have long made the mistaken assumption that new teachers have an intuitive grasp of teaching methodology based on their experiences as students, and that therefore they can begin and continue teaching throughout their careers without any understanding of teaching methodology. Clinical teachers in particular face unique pedagogical challenges relating to class goals, supervisory methods, feedback, and grading. These challenges are magnified by the existence of clients and by the need to engage with students regarding the ethics of legal practice and cultural difference.

This article attempts to set forth some of the critical questions …

Developing Attorneys For The Future: What Can We Learn From The Fast Trackers?, Lori Berman, Heather Bock, Juliet R. Aiken

CSLP Papers & Reports

Leaders in law firms tend to be those attorneys who thrive in a law firm environment from the beginning—successful associates who become successful partners. Later, they are asked to be the leaders of practice areas, committees and, ultimately, part of senior management. While high-performing associates may not be formally promoted to leadership positions for some time, it is important to understand what makes them—as young associates—stand out from their peers. Who are these future leaders, and what qualities predict their advancement in a law firm environment? These are the questions we set out to explore.

To date, little empirical work …

Senses Of Sen: Reflections On Amartya Sen’S Ideas Of Justice, César Arjona, Arif A. Jamal, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Victor V. Ramraj, Francisco Satiro

Faculty Papers & Publications

This review essay explores how Amartya Sen’s recent book, The Idea of Justice, is relevant and important for the development and assessment of transnational theories and applications to transnational justice and legal education programs. The essay captures a trans-jural dialogue of multinational scholars and teachers, discussing Sen’s contributions to moral justice theory (criticizing programs for “transcendental institutionalism” (like Rawlsian theory) and instead focusing on “comparative broadening” including empirical, relative, and comparative assessments of programs to ameliorate injustice in the world in its comparative concreteness (as in Indian social justice theory and Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments and related …

The Struggle For Legal Philosophy (Vis-À-Vis Legal Education): Methods And Problems, Imer Flores

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The article challenges the empirical claim that suggests that the legal skills needed to successfully practice law are not--and cannot be--learned at law schools, and contrasts it with the conceptual claim that indicates that the legal tasks needed for practicing law presuppose a legal theory--or at least requires a link between theory and practice. Hence, the dual claim--empirical and conceptual--is that legal philosophy is an important part of a legal curriculum and necessary to bridge, rather than to deepen, the existing gap between theory and practice.

Tech Innovation In The Academy, Roger Skalbeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

If today’s law students are going to become effective users of technology tools, law schools need to prepare them for more than just tomorrow’s legal practice. At Georgetown, we have come to the realization that we need to prepare students for legal practice 10 years from now. This article provides a look at ways several law schools help students develop technology skills and prepare for future law practice, incorporating examples and lessons learned from teaching the course “Technology, Innovation and Law Practice.” It presents concrete ideas for law students to understand and appreciate the potential of technology to transform legal …

Top 10 Law School Home Pages Of 2011, Roger Skalbeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For the third consecutive year, the website home pages for all ABA-accredited law schools are evaluated and ranked based on objective criteria. For 2011, law school home pages advanced in some areas. For instance, there are now thirteen sites using the HTML5 doctype, up from a single site in 2010. In addition, seventeen schools achieved a perfect score for three tests focused on website accessibility, up from eight in 2010. Nonetheless, there’s enough diversity in coding practices and content to help separate the great from the good.

For this year’s survey, twenty-four elements of each home page are assessed across …

The Master Mason: How Professor Baldus Built A Bridge From Learning To Law And The Legacy Of Equal Justice He Leaves Behind, James E. Baker

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

These are Chief Judge Baker’s remarks eulogizing the late Professor David Baldus. Chief Judge Baker observes that Professor Baldus was an extraordinary educator-lawyer who mastered the fields of social science and statistics. He adds that Professor Baldus was diligent in his research and strived to make the law accessible. Chief Judge Baker discusses how Professor Baldus’s research on the death penalty and proportionality review successfully bridged the law and learning, without ever losing sight of compassion.

The Clinical Mission Of Justice Readiness, Jane H. Aiken

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Law schools strive to teach students to be practice ready. That noble goal, however, is not enough. Because of the powerful role that lawyers play in society, educators must also teach students to be “justice ready.” Justice ready graduates are able to recognize injustice and appropriately evaluate the consequences of their actions in a way that mere practice readiness does not teach. The traditional law school curriculum fails to teach justice readiness, instead inculcating in students a penchant for the status quo—an unjust and unchanging social order. Clinical education is the solution for creating justice ready graduates. Its use of …