Step Away from the Case Book: A Call for Balance and Integration in Law School Pedagogy

Abstract:     
This essay is a part of a symposium project by the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review that culls together radical proposals for the reform of legal education. In this essay, I argue that courses in law school should integrate skills training, doctrine and theory so that students learn legal doctrine and theory in a practical context. Integrating skills into doctrinal and theory courses will give students a deeper, richer notion of what it means to practice law and think like a lawyer. In short, law school pedagogy should project a model of law practice that both accurately reflects what lawyers do and that opens students' minds to a vision of lawyering as a creative endeavor that involves critical, outside the box thinking. An integrated approach can potentially improve the quality of law practice, enhance lawyers' experience as practitioners, and possibly even change the law itself.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 5

Keywords: pedagogy, legal education, skills training

JEL Classification: K40

Accepted Paper Series