The ABA Journal has a piece about “Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers” a new site that encourages ” law schools to experiment with interactive classes with the goal of producing more “practice-ready lawyers.”
Launched last week, Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers promotes innovative teaching with a new website to help educators learn from each other. The project is also planning conferences where law professors can share ideas.
Kourlis: Traditional law classes featuring a professor at a podium directing questions at students may work in the first year when students need to understand legal theory, but by the second and third years, there is a greater demand for law students to engage in a practical way with the material. What’s at stake is how these students will arrive on the first day of a job as bar-certified attorneys. … Law firms no longer have the time or money to give new hires on-the-job training. The clients recognize that time is money, and they know they’re paying for expertise from their counsel. Law classes must adapt to the changing needs of the profession. … The resolution adopted at the ABA’s House of Delegates meeting in Toronto in early August calling on law schools to incorporate more practical training into the curriculum is just one example of a recent wave of support backing major changes in legal education.