Legal Separation: The Relationship between the Law School and the Central University in the Late Nineteenth Century

Abstract:     
Using Yale Law School as an example, this Article describes the interaction between university-affiliated law schools and the larger university during a crucial period in the development of legal education: the last third of the nineteenth century. At the same time, the Article contrasts Yale with other law schools of the day to show what made Yale unique and how Yale’s nineteenth-century idiosyncrasies would come to shape legal education at other schools in the twentieth century. Part I examines the university administration’s attitude toward the law school and how it typified law school-university relations in the late nineteenth century. Part II assesses the educational philosophies of the law school faculty, comparing and contrasting their views on legal education and professionalization with those of other law teachers of the time. Understanding this period in Yale’s development provides insights into law school-university relations and the prevailing justification for university-affiliated legal education after the Civil War.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 36

Keywords: Yale, Legal Education, Dwight, Porter, Langdell, Hadley, Case Method

Accepted Paper Series