Deven Desai has organized a moblog over at Madisonian around the question, "What Kind of Institution Do We Want A Law School To Be?" The first entry is from Erwin Chemerinsky, who was subjected to a slew of unsolicited advice at the hands of Paul Caron last fall. Take a look at Chemerinsky's vision of the new law school:
My vision for a law school of the 21st century, and for our new law school in particular, has two key components: experiential learning and interdisciplinary learning. I also want to make sure that there are more opportunities for students to have smaller classes, especially in the first year. For example, I think that it is essential that all students have one course in a "small section" during both the fall and spring of the first year. In this course, there should be multiple evaluations of students' work, rather than the usual one exam at the end of the semester with no feedback.
Read the whole post, then tell me whether that looks like a blueprint for a "new approach to legal education." Maybe everything has been tried, but I didn't see a single fresh idea in the whole post.
Then again, maybe execution is the key. Aside from the foregoing post, about the only thing I know about Chemerinsky's new law school is that my friend Dan Burk is going to be on the faculty. Dan is extremely creative and energetic, and a faculty filled with people like Dan would make even the most mundane business plan come to life.
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1. Posted by Steve ("Professor") Bainbridge on April 8, 2008 @ 13:09 | Permalink
You're right about there being nothing new in Chemerinsky's post. My main complaint about the post, however, is the equation of the public interest with so-called public interest law.
You want to help make society a better place? You want to eliminate poverty? Become a corporate lawyer. Help businesses grow, so that they can create jobs and provide goods and services that make’s lives better.
2. Posted by Jake on April 8, 2008 @ 22:06 | Permalink
"My vision for a law school of the 21st century, and for our new law school in particular, has two key components: experiential learning and interdisciplinary learning."
What does this kind of fluff have to do with making good lawyers? Enough of this "experiental learning" stuff. There are far too many law school graduates out there who practice law "experientially," rather than with basic competence.
"Interdisciplinary learning" is another chimera. Having lawyers around who understand anything other than law is a fabulous concept. But law schools should not dilute their curricula in search of this ideal. The far simpler answer, for those law schools that truly wish to delve into interdisciplinary studies, is to limit admissions to students who have actually worked at something tangible in the real world before thinking about law school.
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