scholarly journals The Dean Who Went to Law School: Crossing Borders and Searching for Purpose in North American Legal Education, 1930–1950

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Adams
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Graduate Training ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law School ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law ◽  
The University

This article is about the making of modern legal education in North America. It is a case study of the lives of two law schools, the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law and the University of Minnesota Law School, and their respective deans, Wilbur Bowker and Everett Fraser, in the decades surrounding the Second World War. The article follows Bowker’s unorthodox route to Alberta’s deanship via his graduate training under the experimental “Minnesota Plan” — Fraser’s long-forgotten effort to place public service at the centre of American legal education. In detailing an overlooked moment of transition and soulsearching in North American legal education, this article underlines the personalities, ideologies, circumstances, and practices that combined to forge the still dominant model of university-based legal education across the continent. Highlighting the movement of people and ideas, this study corrects a tendency to understand the history of law schools as the story of single institutions and isolated visionaries. It also reveals the dynamic ways in which law schools absorbed and refracted the period’s ideological and political concerns into teaching practices and institutional arrangements. In bold experiment and innate conservatism, personal ambition and institutional constraints, and, above all else, faith in the power of law and lawyers, the postwar law school was born.

Affirmative Action and Aboriginal Government: The Case for Legal Education in Nunavut

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Gallagher-Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Disadvantaged Communities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Education Gap ◽  
The University ◽  
And Training

AbstractThe Nunavut Land Claim Agreement commits federal and territorial governments to the recruitment and training of Inuit for positions throughout government. In the justice sector, there is currently a major shortage of Inuit lawyers or future judges. However, there also appears to be a fundamental mismatch between what existing law schools offer and what Inuit students are prepared to accept. A northern-based law school might remedy some of these problems. However, support for a law school requires un-thinking certain key tenets of legal education as we know it in Canada. In particular, it may require a step outside the university-based law school system. Universities appear to be accepted as the exclusive guardian of the concept of academic standards. Admission standards, in particular, serve as both a positivist technology of exclusion, and a political rationale for the persistence of majoritarian institutions as the major means of training members of disadvantaged communities. Distinctive institutions – eventually working with university-based law schools – have the potential to help bridge the education gap between Inuit and other Canadians. In so doing, they have the potential to train a critical mass of Inuit to meaningfully adapt the justice system to become a pillar of the public government in the Inuit homeland of Nunavut.

The Disastrous First Fund-Raising Campaign in Legal Education: The Harvard Law School Centennial, 1914–1920

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-578
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Kimball
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fund Raising ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Students ◽  
New Venture ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
The Law ◽  
The University

Between 1915 and 1925, Harvard University conducted the first national public fund-raising campaign in higher education in the United States. At the same time, Harvard Law School attempted the first such effort in legal education. The law school organized its effort independently, in conjunction with its centennial in 1917. The university campaign succeeded magnificently by all accounts; the law school failed miserably. Though perfectly positioned for this new venture, Harvard Law School raised scarcely a quarter of its goal from merely 2 percent of its alumni. This essay presents the first account of this campaign and argues that its failure was rooted in longstanding cultural and professional objections that many of the school's alumni shared: law students and law schools neither need nor deserve benefactions, and such gifts worsen the overcrowding of the bar. Due to these objections, lethargy, apathy, and pessimism suffused the campaign. These factors weakened the leadership of the alumni association, the dean, and the president, leading to inept management, wasted time, and an unlikely strategy that was pursued ineffectively. All this doomed the campaign, particularly given the tragic interruptions of the dean's suicide and World War I, along with competition from the well-run campaigns for the University and for disaster relief due to the war.

Law reform in the twenty-first century

Legal Studies ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Toulson
Keyword(s):  
Law School ◽  
First Century ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
The University ◽  
Law Commission

In this paper, which is the text of a lecture given at the official launch of the Law School at the University of Bradford on 11 May 2006, the history of law reform in England is traced, the role of the Law Commission is analysed and future prospects are considered.

scholarly journals From Oxford to Williamsburg: Part 1 – The University of Oxford, Faculty of Law and Bodleian Law Library

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 284-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Bird
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Law School ◽  
Bodleian Library ◽  
University Of Oxford ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law ◽  
History Of The University ◽  
The Law ◽  
The University ◽  
Law Library

AbstractThe Bodleian Law Library has only existed as an entity in its own right for less than 50 years. Yet part of the collection dates back to the days before the founding of the Bodleian Library in 1602. The rise and fall in fortunes of the teaching of law at Oxford is closely tied to the establishment of the law library. A lesser known aspect of the history includes the ties between Oxford and the United States, especially its oldest law school, William and Mary Law School. In this paper, Ruth Bird offers a brief history of the University of Oxford and then looks at the history of law teaching, before moving on to the evolution of the Law Library itself, and some links with our cousins across the pond.

The Langdell Problem: Historicizing the Century of Historiography, 1906–2000s

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Kimball
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Christopher Columbus ◽  
History Of ◽  
Admission Requirement

Christopher Columbus Langdell (1826–1906) is arguably the most influential figure in the history of legal education in the United States, having shaped the modern law school by introducing a number of significant reforms during his tenure as dean of Harvard Law School (HLS) from 1870 to 1895. Langdell's innovations—including the admission requirement of a bachelor's degree, the graded and sequential curriculum, the hurdle of annual examinations for continuation and graduation, the independent career track for professional faculty, the transformation of the professional library from a textbook repository into a scholarly resource, and the inductive pedagogy of teaching from cases—became the characteristics gradually adopted by university law schools after 1890 and, eventually, schools of other professions. Langdell thus transformed legal education from an undemanding, gentlemanly acculturation into an academic meritocracy.

scholarly journals A History of the Law Faculty

1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
John M. Law ◽  
Roderick J. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Law School ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Law Faculty ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
The University ◽  
The Way

The authors examine the history of the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. Beginning with a look at the early requirements to practice law in Alberta, the authors discuss the events leading to the establishment of the first permanent law school in the province. An analysis of the evolution of the Faculty is conducted. Along the way, the important contributions of many individuals, from John A. Weir to Wilbur Bowker, are acknowledged.

scholarly journals Formation of Legal Education at the University of Melbourne: International Experience for the University of Lviv

2020 ◽  
pp. 57-60
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Kakhnych
Keyword(s):  
Research University ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law School ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Law Faculty ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The University

In the article the formation of legal education at the University of Melbourne, its short and successful path to worldwide recognitionis examined. The importance of researching such a successful example for national legal education is shown. Important researchby well-known professors who have worked at the University of Lviv and the University of Melbourne is depicted, and their contributionto the study of legal education in Melbourne is revealed.The author of the article shows that the experience of legal education in one of the oldest law schools in Australia – the Universityof Melbourne, which is now one of the world’s leading universities, as well as 50 best educational institutions in the world, is importantas an example of legal education for Ukrainian universities, in particular Lviv University. Legal education at Lviv University occupiesa significant place in the education of young professionals for crucial government positions.Founded in 1853, the University of Melbourne is the second oldest university in Australia. This is a state research university. Itconsists of 10 colleges located on the main campus and in the surrounding suburbs, which offer academic, cultural and sports programs.The University of Melbourne often ranks first among Australian universities in the world rankings. More than 46 % of his students areforeigners. This school is officially accredited by the Australian Department of Education and Training.The teaching of law, until 1873 at the University of Melbourne, was governed directly by the board and faculty; there was nocouncil or committee in charge of the faculty, and no head or administrator to lead the law course other than faculty and university officials.It was the council that decided on the details of the curriculum and considered students’ complaints about things like absenteeismand lecture venues. Other disciplines were in the same position. Not only in the field of law, but in general, the university did not havefaculties that would be responsible for certain areas of study.The university was so small that in 1872 it had only 134 students, 53 of whom studied law. In the early 1870s, the situation wasfavorable for change. The council committee explored the possibility of expanding the teaching of law by creating more subjects andlecture courses, and at the same time, by creating a new body, a faculty to oversee them.The council committee called this change the creation of a law school, and since then the terms “law school” (“law schools”) and“law faculty” have sometimes been interchangeable. Law classes were called a “school of law” for several months after their foundingin 1872. This term was sometimes used in another sense (as a discipline with honors). Despite the ambiguous terminology, the councilmeant the creation of the faculty and the accompanying reorganization of teaching in 1872–1873.The author of the article argues that building a legal education in Ukraine is impossible without a proper study of the experience,knowledge and practical skills that existed at the University of Melbourne. The opinion is based on the fact that the organization ofwork, cooperation with students and involvement of a large number of foreigners remains a model to follow. This approach to coope -ration and establishing contacts with their structure has made them famous and universally recognized worldwide. We can see thisbecause the University of Melbourne is now one of the world’s leading universities, as well as one of 50 best educational institutionsin the world.

scholarly journals Innovators, Esq.: Training the Next Generation of Lawyer Social Entrepreneurs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Dangel ◽  
Michael J Madison
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Students ◽  
School Program ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
University Of Pittsburgh ◽  
Law School Graduates ◽  
The University

Today’s law school graduates need to be entrepreneurial to succeed, but traditional legal education tends to produce lawyers who are “strange bedfellows” with entrepreneurs. This article begins by examining the innovative programs at many law schools that ameliorate this tension, including the programs offered by our Innovation Practice Institute (IPI) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Although these programs train law students to represent entrepreneurs and to be entrepreneurial in law-related careers, few (if any) law schools train law students to be “business” entrepreneurs. Drawing on our own experiences and the writings of Bill Drayton, the lawyer who pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship, we discuss how some lawyers have applied their legal education to be successful “social” entrepreneurs. Finally, we outline the IPI’s three-year law school program explicitly designed to train law students to be social entrepreneurs.

scholarly journals Pericles Should Learn to Fix a Leaky Pipe – Why Trial Advocacy Should Become Part of the LLB Curriculum (Part 1)

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Willem Hendrik Gravett
Keyword(s):  
Professional Competence ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Law ◽  
Trial Advocacy ◽  
The University

It is a sad fact that at most university law schools in South Africa, a student can graduate without ever having set foot in a courtroom, and without ever having spoken to, or on behalf of, a person in need of advice or counsel. The past several years have witnessed a swelling chorus of complaints that the current LLB curriculum produces law graduates who were "out of their depth" in practice. My purpose is to make a case for the inclusion in the LLB curriculum of a course in trial advocacy. This endeavour of necessity invokes the broader debate over the educational objectives of a university law school – a debate memorably framed by William Twining as the two polar images of "Pericles and the plumber". My thesis is that the education of practising lawyers should be the primary mission of the university law school. The first part of this contribution is a response to those legal academics who hold that the role of the law school is to educate law students in the theories and substance of the law; that it is not to function as a trade school or a nursery school for legal practice. With reference to the development of legal education in the United States, I argue that the "education/training" dichotomy has been exposed as a red herring. This so-called antithesis is false, because it assumes that a vocational approach is necessarily incompatible with such values as free inquiry, intellectual rigour, independence of thought, and breadth of perspective. The modern American law school has shown that such so-called incompatibility is the product of intellectual snobbery and devoid of any substance. It is also often said that the raison d'être of a university legal education is to develop in the law student the ability "to think like a lawyer". However, what legal academics usually mean by "thinking like a lawyer" is the development of a limited subset of the skills that are of crucial importance in practising law: one fundamental cognitive skill – analysis – and one fundamental applied skill – legal research. We are not preparing our students for other, equally crucial lawyering tasks – negotiating, client counselling, witness interviewing and trial advocacy. Thinking like a lawyer is a much richer and more intricate process than merely collecting and manipulating doctrine. We cannot say that we are fulfilling our goal to teach students to "think like lawyers", because the complete lawyer "thinks" about doctrine and about trial strategy and about negotiation and about counselling. We cannot teach students to "think like lawyers" without simultaneously teaching them what lawyers do. An LLB curriculum that only produces graduates who can "think like lawyers" in the narrow sense ill-serves them, the profession and the public. If the profession is to improve the quality of the services it provides to the public, it is necessary for the law schools to recognise that their students must receive the skills needed to put into practice the knowledge and analytical abilities they learn in the substantive courses. We have an obligation to balance the LLB curriculum with courses in professional competence, including trial advocacy – courses that expose our students to what actually occurs in lawyer-client relationships and in courtrooms. The skills our law students would acquire in these courses are essential to graduating minimally-competent lawyers whom we can hand over to practice to complete their training. The university law school must help students form the habits and skills that will carry over to a lifetime of practice. Nothing could be more absurd than to neglect in education those practical matters that are necessary for a person's future calling.

scholarly journals Simion Bărnuţiu – Pioneer in the development of the law sciences and of the legal education in Romania

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (34) ◽  
pp. 52-63
Author(s):  
Marţian Iovan
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
The University ◽  
1848 Revolution

Abstract The author analyses in this paper S. Bărnuţiu’s contribution to the establishment of the legal education and to the development of the sciences of the Law in the Romanian area during the mid-19th century. Adept of the natural law philosophy, ardent promotor of human and people’s rights, Bărnuţiu remains a personality of reference in the Romanians’ history not only for being the political leader and ideologist of the Transylvanian 1848 Revolution, but also for establishing the legal education at the University of Iasi by inspiring himself from the curriculum of the profile schools of law from the Western Europe. Having a unitary conception on the law and on the history of law, considering the law from a systemic perspective, Bărnuţiu contributed into the edification of a modern, constitutional, and democratic State in the united Romanian Principalities.

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