Sunday, November 20, 2011

Law Professors and their Views of Private Practice

Excellent article on law school attitudes toward pedagogy and emphasis between theory and practice. (Read the article, but you can easily guess which way law schools currently tilt.)  There are many reasons for this: a) the academy's fear of being characterized as a "trade school"and ; b) emotional and professional insecurities of a Professorial elite with little if any real world experience who are therefore loathe to have anything that may destabilize their insular world view among many others.

Two seemingly disparate items that further make the point: 1) The subject of "contracts" as currently taught  in law schools and as structured in case books bears precious little resemblance to reality. The obsessive focus on "consideration" in particular is a complete farce, in my view. Instead, law schools and the undergraduate and MBA courses that teach contract law would be far better served by analyzing (and heaven forbid, actually drafting) a variety of contracts from license agreements, to marketing agreements, NDAs, and the like; and 2) One of my most enduring memories from law school was the utter and open contempt too many in the Faculty displayed toward attorneys and the practice of law. This hostility never sat well with me and still bothers to this day. What is different today, however, is that the changes in the profession (and poor job market) will necessitate changes in law schools. The law schools (especially those in Tier 3 and below) that don't adjust may not survive. Those that are at the forefront of these changes in peadagogy can continue to grow and even prosper.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/business/after-law-school-associates-learn-to-be-lawyers.html?_r=2

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