Excellent thoughts, and in accord with those of myself and some other recently graduated students who have just experienced the traditional curriculum for ourselves.
I myself wonder if and how the ABA could sanction an alternative path to legal education along the lines of the old Columbia model, where part-time (and/or modular) classes and lectures supplemented rigorous apprenticeship opportunities. I imagine a sort of solar system, where the apprenticeship is the sun. It would be full time (or near to it), paid, and fairly anodyne in subject matter (basic litigation and contract work only) but supervised only by extremely skilled and conscientious practitioners. Orbiting around this would be the law school’s academic curriculum that would expose students to different and even experimental areas of the law, higher order concepts, and important material in specialized areas.
Besides the benefit of making law students more ready to practice in the real world, I think there are plenty of ancillary benefits: a less costly legal education, more flexibility in scheduling, and maybe even reduction of the on-campus ideological tensions that mark many’s law school experiences today. But the greatest would be the opportunity to tailor the learning experience to the needs of the student, as you’ve discussed in your post.
Excellent thoughts, and in accord with those of myself and some other recently graduated students who have just experienced the traditional curriculum for ourselves.
I myself wonder if and how the ABA could sanction an alternative path to legal education along the lines of the old Columbia model, where part-time (and/or modular) classes and lectures supplemented rigorous apprenticeship opportunities. I imagine a sort of solar system, where the apprenticeship is the sun. It would be full time (or near to it), paid, and fairly anodyne in subject matter (basic litigation and contract work only) but supervised only by extremely skilled and conscientious practitioners. Orbiting around this would be the law school’s academic curriculum that would expose students to different and even experimental areas of the law, higher order concepts, and important material in specialized areas.
Besides the benefit of making law students more ready to practice in the real world, I think there are plenty of ancillary benefits: a less costly legal education, more flexibility in scheduling, and maybe even reduction of the on-campus ideological tensions that mark many’s law school experiences today. But the greatest would be the opportunity to tailor the learning experience to the needs of the student, as you’ve discussed in your post.