Essay: Recent Trends in American Legal Education

An American law professor in Japan has much more to learn than to teach. A foreigner like me - who comes to Japan on short notice, with no knowledge of Japanese culture and institutions, and with no Japanese language skills - sets himself a formidable task. Happily, the courtesy of my hosts, the patience of my colleagues, and the devotion of my students, have made for a delightful visit. I thank all of you. You asked me to talk about American legal education. As you surely know, the system of legal education in the U.S. is very different from the system of legal education in Japan. In this talk I will start with a little history. Then I will describe the present legal education system in some detail, to give you an overview of its structure, and of the core curriculum as it is taught at most law schools. Next I will discuss recent developments in legal education, to bring you up to date. I will end with some of the problems that face U.S. law schools, and in particular I will address a unique problem that confronts my own school, the University of Michigan Law School