More on "Practice-Ready" Legal Education

Click here to read an excellent post (read: someone who agrees with me) by Dru Stevenson on the risks of overemphasizing so-called "practical education" in the law school curriculum. As Stevenson asks, "would you prefer that your surgeon had spent more time taking courses on 'counseling patients,' and 'medical clinic management,' or more time studying cellular biology and organic chemistry?" Given that I know both of those who have posted comments to Stevenson's remarks, I recommend that you read them as well. And to see how Stevenson agrees with me, check my earlier posts here and especially here.

There is a place--an important one--for skills courses in the law school curriculum. Suffice it to say, however, that at no point in their law practices will most lawyers have the time for sustained reflection of what the law is, and, more importantly, what the law should be, than they had in law school. Unlike most trades, the practice of law sets the agenda and helps drive the course of social and political activity in a particular polity. Failure to grapple with fundamental questions of the nature and place of the law while in law school will stunt a lawyer's civic functions. 

It's also the case that a religiously-affiliated law school that takes its faith commitment seriously like Regent can also add an element of "professional identity formation" (the latest catch-phrase for "character") that goes beyond what many law school can offer. It's good to see that Stevenson agrees with that, too.