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Full-Text Articles in Law

Reflections On Legal Education In The Aftermath Of A Pandemic, Timothy Casey Oct 2021

Reflections On Legal Education In The Aftermath Of A Pandemic, Timothy Casey

Faculty Scholarship

This essay considers two significant changes to legal education in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, on-line programs will expand, based on the largely successful experiment in delivering legal education on-line during the pandemic. But this expansion must be thoughtful and deliberate. The legal education curriculum could include more on-line courses, but only if the learning outcomes and the pedagogy are aligned with on-line education. Experiential courses may not be the best fit for on-line given the specific learning outcomes and the benefits of in-person instruction in those courses. Second, student well-being will receive more attention in legal education. …


Legal Education In Transition: Trends And Their Implications, Michael A. Millemann, Sheldon Krantz Jan 2015

Legal Education In Transition: Trends And Their Implications, Michael A. Millemann, Sheldon Krantz

Faculty Scholarship

This is a pivotal moment in legal education. Revisions in American Bar Association accreditation standards, approved in August 2014, impose new requirements, including practice-based requirements, on law schools. Other external regulators and critics are pushing for significant changes too. For example, the California bar licensing body is proposing to add a practice-based, experiential requirement to its licensing requirements, and the New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, is giving third-year, second semester students the opportunity to practice full-time in indigent legal services programs and projects. Unbeknown to many, there have been significant recent changes in legal education that …


Reflective Practice In Legal Education: The Stages Of Reflection, Timothy Casey Apr 2014

Reflective Practice In Legal Education: The Stages Of Reflection, Timothy Casey

Faculty Scholarship

Experiential legal education programs include reflection as an explicit learning outcome. Although many teachers and students have seen the value of reflection, few have studied the process of reflection. Drawing from research in the fields of cognitive development, reflective judgment, and moral reasoning, this article presents an organizational model for teaching reflection in six stages. The Stages of Reflection model provides teachers and students with a deeper understanding of the process of reflection, and creates a pathway for the development of reflective practice.


Cultivating Justice For The Working Poor: Clinical Representation Of Unemployment Claimants, Colleen F. Shanahan Jan 2011

Cultivating Justice For The Working Poor: Clinical Representation Of Unemployment Claimants, Colleen F. Shanahan

Faculty Scholarship

The combination of current economic conditions and recent changes in the United States' welfare system makes representation of unemployment insurance claimants by clinic students a timely learning opportunity. While unemployment insurance claimants often share similarities with student attorneys, they are unable to access justice as easily as student attorneys, and as a result, face the risk of severe poverty. Clinical representation of unemployment claimants is a rich opportunity for students to experience making a difference for a client, and to understand the issues of poverty and justice that these clients experience along the way. These cases reveal that larger lessons …


Overcoming Cultural Blindness In International Clinical Collaboration: The Divide Between Civil And Common Law Cultures And Its Implications For Clinical Education, Philip Genty Jan 2008

Overcoming Cultural Blindness In International Clinical Collaboration: The Divide Between Civil And Common Law Cultures And Its Implications For Clinical Education, Philip Genty

Faculty Scholarship

This essay reflects upon the work that U.S. clinical teachers have done in helping to bring clinical methodology to law schools in European civil law jurisdictions. The essay examines some of the differences between the U.S. common law and European civil law systems with respect to the conception, teaching, and practice of law. The essay suggests that U.S. clinical teachers have not been sufficiently sensitive to these differences in legal culture. The essay describes five core differences between the two systems and their implications for effective clinical education in civil law systems. The essay concludes with recommendations for future cross-cultural …


Giving Millennials A Leg-Up: How To Avoid The If I Knew Then What I Know No Syndrome, Leslie Larkin Cooney Jan 2007

Giving Millennials A Leg-Up: How To Avoid The If I Knew Then What I Know No Syndrome, Leslie Larkin Cooney

Faculty Scholarship

While it may not be possible for law schools to train students completely within three years for the practice of law, we can come much closer to this goal and make the transition to professional life an easier and more productive one. This article explores the common traits of members of the generation comprising today's law students who prefer the label Millennial to others because of their expressed wish not to be associated with Generation X. The article discusses ways to enhance clinical education and teach lifelong learning skills so students can continue developing their problem solving expertise long after …


Teaching Legal Research And Writing With Actual Legal Work: Extending Clinical Education Into The First Year, Michael A. Millemann, Steven D. Schwinn Apr 2006

Teaching Legal Research And Writing With Actual Legal Work: Extending Clinical Education Into The First Year, Michael A. Millemann, Steven D. Schwinn

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, the co-authors argue that legal research and writing (LRW) teachers should use actual legal work to generate assignments. They recommend that clinical and LRW teachers work together to design, co-teach, and evaluate such courses. They describe two experimental courses they developed together and co-taught to support and clarify their arguments. They contend that actual legal work motivates students to learn the basic skills of research, analysis and writing, and thus helps to accomplish the primary goals of LRW courses. It also helps students to explore new dimensions of basic skills, including those related to the development and …


From The Clinic To The Classroom: Or What I Would Have Learned If I Had Been Paying More Attention To My Students And Their Clients, Peter B. Knapp Jan 2003

From The Clinic To The Classroom: Or What I Would Have Learned If I Had Been Paying More Attention To My Students And Their Clients, Peter B. Knapp

Faculty Scholarship

This past year, two experiences related to clinical teaching—one a moment of personal epiphany and the other, a conversation with a colleague—have caused the author to spend more time thinking about what he should be learning in the clinic and applying in the classroom.


Rosalie Wahl's Vision For Legal Education: Clinics At The Heart, Ann Juergens Jan 2003

Rosalie Wahl's Vision For Legal Education: Clinics At The Heart, Ann Juergens

Faculty Scholarship

Rosalie Wahl holds a special place in the hearts of Minnesota lawyers. Many women and girls, especially, were gratified when Governor Rudy Perpich appointed her the first woman on the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1977. There were no more than nine other women on supreme courts around the country at the time, and none on the U.S. Supreme Court. She served on the court until 1994, when the law mandating judges’ retirement at age seventy caused her to step down from the bench. This essay highlights the significance of Wahl’s work as a clinical legal educator and activist for legal …


Clinical Teaching At William Mitchell College Of Law: Values, Pedagogy, And Perspective, Eric S. Janus Jan 2003

Clinical Teaching At William Mitchell College Of Law: Values, Pedagogy, And Perspective, Eric S. Janus

Faculty Scholarship

A retrospective celebrating thirty years of clinical education at William Mitchell College of Law. These courses are nurtured by the key principles that have shaped clinical education at William Mitchell. They embrace the profession of law, but insist on a critical stance. They recognize that values define the practice of law, and that only through intentional choice of pedagogy and perspective can values education be effective and respectful of the autonomy of our students as they work to define the sort of lawyers they wish to become.


Rosalie Wahl: Her Extraordinary Contributions To Legal Education, James F. Hogg Jan 1995

Rosalie Wahl: Her Extraordinary Contributions To Legal Education, James F. Hogg

Faculty Scholarship

Justice Rosalie Wahl is well-known as the first woman to be appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, but she has made a lesser known, yet critical, contribution to the quality and effectiveness of legal education in this country. As chair of the American Bar Association's Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Wahl created the MacCrate Commission. The MacCrate Report charts the way for improvement in law school teaching and learning, and the discussion following the report lead to the creation of an ABA Commission to take testimony and review the ABA Accreditation Standards. Wahl also chaired this …