This week’s law school admissions round up reflects turmoil in legal education. What has worked is no longer working. Law firms (and their clients) are demanding change, and the law schools may actually be responding.
- At the Future of Education Conference in New York City, United Technologies general counsel Chester Paul Beach called graduating 3Ls and first and second year associates “worthless”. His speech drew attention to some large issues faced by law grads and firms today: students finish law school overwhelmed with debt and with few practical or transferable skills. The Generation J.D. blog suggests that law schools require significant clinic credits to graduate. Plus, schools should also work in conjunction with corporations, in-house counsel and managing partners in order to supplement their curriculum to target common weaknesses found in young associates. This approach can benefit the companies, law schools, and the students as well.
- New York Lawyer also mentions the developments broached at the Future Ed conference. Not only have law firms slowed hiring due to the recession, but now clients are refusing to pay for the on-the-job training of first- and second-year associates. This training has been essential since law schools have not sufficiently prepared their grads for the professional world. This may be the incentive law schools need to innovate their programs, assisting students to develop their professional competence in many respects, including a greater focus on clients’ needs.
- Perhaps some schools have gotten the memo. The JD Admissions blog at Harvard Law has recently focused on their clinical program, in which 70% of its students have participated. HLS offers over 60 clinical courses, almost 30 in-house clinics, and nearly 70 clinical faculty/clinical supervising attorneys. Its many clinics and student practice organizations include a Child Advocacy Program, Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, Sports Law, Prison Legal Assistance Project, and Tenant Advocacy Project. Hopefully, other schools will follow suit in providing their students with the practical education they need to enter the legal job market.
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Read the full article: Changes to Legal Education Round Up
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