Legal Education in Transition: Trends and Their Implications

In Part I, we briefly describe what the critics are saying about legal education and steps the regulators are taking to stimulate what they perceive to be needed reforms. In Part II, we provide an overview of reforms now underway or in development in the first year; developments in experiential courses and programs in upper-level curricula; the emergence of some programs of specialization; the movement to add practice-based courses to the third year; and the creation of post-J.D. transition programs. In Part III, we propose an agenda for law faculties in the strategic planning that law schools should now be undertaking in light of developments underway; the just-approved revisions in ABA accreditation standards; and, in our view, the general need to add more practice-based experiences to most law schools’ curricula. We believe this agenda should include, among other things, rebalancing the curriculum to accomplish the traditional goals of legal education; more effectively preparing law students for practice; and more effectively introducing them to the importance of professionalism and the profession’s essential role in promoting equal access to justice