The legal profession has changed a significant amount in the last 150 years. Gone are the days when aspiring attorneys would clerk for a practicing one, reading law, and learning from this practicing attorney until they were prepared to take the Bar exam.
With the growth of additional requirements to become an attorney, from a bachelors degree to a JD needed to take the Bar exam, the old way in which people became attorneys is long gone. I am not advocating for getting rid of those educational requirements, I believe they are important and makes attorneys more well rounded. However, I believe that the saying "bored to death" in the last year of law school encapsulates its redundancy in its current form.
There's been a large amount of literature advocating getting rid of the last year of law school altogether. I would not go that far, but efforts to make the last year of law school more practicable and thus more valuable would go a long way. The way to do this would be instead of additional classroom credits, make the last year a required clerkship or internship year.
This would go such a long way to making the last year of law school invaluable for experience, as 3L law students could spend a year observing and learning from practicing attorneys. This would make law students and freshly Bar passed attorneys so much better prepared for the actual practice of law. In addition, it would provide invaluable opportunities to build connections in the legal profession and gain mentors that is so important in law.
I do not believe the last year of law school will be dispensed with anytime soon, they are too many law schools with a moneyed interest in it. However, this would be a great compromise to enable law students in their last year to gain hands on experience, networks, and mentorship that will better prepare newly graduated law students for the practice of law and make the last year of law school significantly more valuable.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteI definitely see the value in revamping the third year of law school and making it more about developing practical skills like contract drafting, being in a courtroom, how to negotiate/mediate. Unfortunately, I believe these decisions may be influenced more by $$ than what is better for the student.
President Obama advocated for getting rid of the third year of law school: “The third year, they’d be better off clerking or practicing in a firm even if they weren’t getting paid that much, but that step alone would reduce the costs for the student.” https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/obama-says-law-school-should-be-two-years-not-three/
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! I think that an externship or fully immersive learning experience should be required for 3L. It does seem like a lot of our 3L classes are not nearly as beneficial as a practical experience outside of school.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you. I've honestly always thought it was odd that the law is one of the few professional fields that doesn't have any sort of a practicum requirement prior to graduation. I know most 3Ls go my route of using 3L classes for bar prep support, but I do think this year may be better spent with students gathering experience for the real world of practice.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a great point. However, I think it would be difficult to implement a mandatory internship period during the third year under the umbrella of a law school setting. Instead, I would champion for third year students being forced to participate in a clinical program, internship, or externship during their third year where they develop some skills while still taking substantive classes.
ReplyDeleteI like this approach. As someone who worked through law school, I wonder if this approach would be limited to certain Mentors, practice areas, etc., as my main goal for working for this firm was to secure employment before graduation, and I know theres a bunch of students (especially part time) that need to work to be able to survive and could possibly not make a mentorship program like this work if they were not getting paid. That said, I too would rather a mentorship opportunity in my last year than being "bored to death" .
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