Integrating Carnegie Foundation's Recommendation of Professional Identity Formation Apprenticeship in a Civil Procedure Course

Abstract

Paper part of Materials Distributed at American Association of Law Schools Mid-Year Workshop. Discussed Carnegie Foundation's Educating Lawyers (2007) and Best Practices for Legal Education report (2007) and recommendation of need to integrate professionalism and helping students to form professional values and judgments by specific examples in doctrinal courses. Paper summarizes the above 2007 report findings, discusses the ability of adults to modify and develop values at later age (unlike IQ or personality type, which are fixed at earlier age). Provides specific examples through incorporated hypotheticals of scenarios author has used in Civil Procedure courses to promote thought and encourage students to shape values and determine how they would resolve ethical and professional situations that arise in civil litigation. Emphasizes that lawyer has discretion in determining the means of litigation and need not practice in manner that barely exceeds ethical "floor" of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

Keywords: Carnegie Foundation's Educating Lawyers, professionalism, ethics, learning, teaching

JEL Classification: I00, K00, K10, K19, K20, K20, K21, K22, K23, K29, K30, K31, K39, K4, K40, K41, K42, K49, Z00