Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
"A Great Dread Of Vulgarity": A Novel Perspective On Christopher Columbus Langdell And The Origins Of The Case Method In American Legal Education, Andrew Yaphe
Andrew Yaphe
When he introduced the case method of teaching to Harvard Law School in the 1870s, Christopher Columbus Langdell permanently changed the shape of American legal education. Despite the enormity of Langdell’s influence on legal pedagogy, we understand surprisingly little about what he intended to accomplish with his innovations. This Article offers an original interpretation of Langdell’s contributions to the way we think about the law and legal education. Reading Langdell in tandem with Gilbert Osmond, the central male character in Henry James’s 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady, shows Langdell to be an example of a particular type of …