NCJ Number
125708
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 76 Dated: (September 1990) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1990
Length
112 pages
Annotation
Legal education requires choosing an area of law, gaining expertise, learning to represent clients effectively, and acquiring business skills ranging from rainmaking to office management.
Abstract
Both the complexity of the law and the rate of change have so accelerated in the last decade that it is virtually impossible to teach the law. One of the tasks of a well-constructed clinical or skills training program should be to train students in the process of constant self-education and self-evaluation. Three ways to change legal education is to change accreditation standards, use new resources, and change the bar exam. Over the years, the movement to give law students hands-on experience has matured with the use of video cameras, computers, psychological tests, mentoring systems, and lively debates on method and purpose. Innovative theories of legal education have been tested at the City University of New York Law School at Queens College, attempting to wed theory and practice, reflect in its student body and faculty the diversity of an urban environment, make legal doctrine socially relevant, and encourage students to make choices and take responsibility for them. Too many law schools presently encourage a survival instinct rather than a yearning for genuine education. This does not conduce to professionalism.