Great. I have two more years of the same?

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A copy of an e-mail that Stanford Law School Dean Larry Kramer wrote is on Law School Innovation. In it he talks about why 1L’s seem to be the only one paying attention in law school.

From Law School Innovation:

So what is the real problem? It is not just that students are less engaged in their second and third years. That is a symptom as much as a problem. The problem is that legal education has traditionally involved teaching one skill (thinking like a lawyer), and doing so for three years. The second and third year curriculum is thus best described as “more of the same.” The fields of law are different, but what students do in their second and third year classes is mostly just what they did in their first year classes. There is, to be sure, a bit more variety: opportunities to take some seminars and write papers, and opportunities to do clinics and externships. But at most schools these are a haphazard feature rather than a systematic part of the curriculum, and the core curriculum remains focused mainly around doctrinal field surveys. Students take these other sorts of c! lasses to relieve the monotony or to have a chance to “do some good” or have some fun while earning their degree. They are not an integral part of a consciously constructed upper level curriculum, and for most students the upper two years still consist mainly of more conventional law classes, with a handful of alternatives thrown in.

So, I have two years of more of the same to look forward to. I don’t think my law school has much to offer in the form of alternative classes. I’m probably going to join law review or perhaps do the legal clinic in order to kill the monotony of my second and third years. Anybody have any suggestions which is better?

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4 Comments

1. denver2 on 01.11.2006 at 10:14 (Reply)

   Thought you might enjoy this post about what it means to think like a lawyer:

   http://westallen.typepad.com/idealawg/2006/10/james_boyd_whit_1.html

2. Jim on 06.11.2006 at 12:59 (Reply)

   That’s a load of b.s. I have been practicing law for several years and can tell you that the third year of law school was completely unnecessary.

   The first year is very important because you learn the basic foundation of your eventual legal expertise. Notwithstanding what the Stanford Dean wrote, the real reason students pay the most attention during the first year is because the grades you acquire during your first year of law school have a tremendous impact on your future legal career (this is less true for students at the very top law schools and students specializing in certain areas of practice such as patent law).

   If you end up working at a big law firm, you’ll learn most of what you need to know while working on the job.

3. JL on 09.09.2007 at 06:48 (Reply)

   Definitions of pedagogy on the Web:

   The strategies, techniques, and approaches that teachers can use to facilitate learning.
   ftad.osu.edu/CSP/glossary.html

   teaching; assisting students through interaction and activity in the ongoing academic and social events of the classroom.
   www.crede.org/tools/glossary.html

   Literally means the art and science of educating children, pedagogy is often used as a synonym for teaching. Pedagogy embodies teacher-focused education.
   www.neiu.edu/~dbehrlic/hrd408/glossary.htm

   Function, work or art of a teacher; teaching; instruction. (Macquarie Concise Dictionary, 3rd edn, 1998)

4. links for 2007-09-09 | The Frugal Law Student on 09.09.2007 at 21:00

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