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September 9, 2009
"Reality's knocking: The recession is forcing schools to bow to reality"
The title of this post is the headline of this effective new National Law Journal article which highlights the various ways in which lean economic times are impacting law schools. Here is a snippet that spotlights necessity being the nuturing mother of innovation:
The movement to incorporate practical skills into legal education isn't new, but legal educators and researchers report that the floundering economy is increasing incentives for law schools to revamp their curricula to prepare students for the realities of the legal profession. "A lot of the changes are in response to the marketplace," said David Van Zandt, dean of Northwestern University School of Law. "Students are concerned about getting jobs, and everybody wants to be relevant."
Graduates face stiff competition for law firm positions, and clients are balking at footing the bill to train new attorneys. Consequently, law school leaders consider it more important than ever to send students into the profession armed with practical skills, not just extensive knowledge of case law and legal theory. More law schools are modifying coursework and adding practical classes to help students develop the skills past graduates have had the luxury of learning on the job. In that vein, a growing number of law schools are emphasizing teamwork, leadership, professional judgment and the ability to view issues from the clients' perspective.
"I think we are at a moment of historical change across the landscape of legal education," said Washington and Lee Dean Rodney A. Smolla. "When we look back at this period in five to 10 years, we will mark it as the time when the whole mission of law schools made a fundamental turn."
Some related recent posts:
- Is the bad economy going to change the relatiohsip between schools and firms?
- "Law school pays students to stay away"
- The bad summer
- Susskind on "The End of Lawyers? The End of Law Schools?" - liveblog
- How do tough times and tuition increases impact law school innovation?
Posted by DAB
September 9, 2009 in Legal profession realities and developments | Permalink
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Comments
3L could be spent mostly on doing real cases, from start to finish. Recent grads are shocked when faced with such a task. 3L should not be taught by inexperienced profs. It should be carried out in the offices of practicing lawyers.
Also, this is good time to rethink the Scholasticism methodology. Leave aside the fact that the entire hierarchy is in insurrection against the Establishment Clause. They are imposing the Catholic Church Catechism on a secular nation. All should be rounded up, and executed after an hour's fair trial. They are hopeless internal traitors to this nation. Imagine an unmovable elite that tried to impose Sharia law. There is nothing to talk about with them. They need to die at the hands of hooded police officers in the basement of the courthouse immediately upon reading of the verdict. Get rid of these traitors to the constitution.
Leave that small problem aside. Every goal of every law subject is in utter failure. All social and economic problems could be solved by controlling the out of control lawyer. The lawyer profession is highly toxic to this nation. Everyone else is making rapid progress in their field. The lawyer is an anchor seeking to take the nation down to the bottom of the ocean. There should be some rethinking about more than adding a practicum course.
Here is a clue to the answer for the lawyer. All your acts are in physical space on physical entities.
Mercilessly eliminate all supernatural ideas. Give up your Medieval Scholasticist definition of evidence, and adopt the scientific definition. The adversarial system is itself unconstitutional Scholasticist methodology. All legal remedies are physical actions on the bodies of people. Prove them safe and effective before enacting them for the population.
Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Sep 9, 2009 2:18:46 PM
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