Morals and Mentors: What the First American Law Schools Can Teach Us About Developing Law Students' Professional Identity

47 Pages Posted: 20 Jun 2019

See all articles by Benjamin V. Madison III

Benjamin V. Madison III

Regent University School of Law

Larry O. Natt Gantt, II

High Point University Kenneth F. Kahn School Law

Date Written: June 12, 2019

Abstract

This article examines what the first American law schools can teach current legal educators about how best to develop law students’ professional identity. Drawing upon the seminal reports of Educating Lawyers and Best Practices for Legal Education, the article underscores legal educators’ responsibility to cultivate our students’ professional identity and instill in them the key normative values of the profession. Turning to the lessons we can learn from early American law schools, the article then discusses how legal educators in America, from colonial times through the late nineteenth century, sought to teach aspiring lawyers both legal analysis and the study of — and reflection on — ethical and moral principles underlying the law. The article next considers how a variety of influences led to a de-emphasis on ethical formation in the instruction of law students and to the development of teaching legal analysis as the primary mission of law schools. This part also discusses related changes in the legal profession which accompanied these changes in legal education. The final part explores the elements of early law school education related to values formation, including the role of mentoring, and provides recommendations on how these elements can be integrated into modern law school teaching. The article concludes that law schools today can best marry present and past by employing modern pedagogical practices to re-emphasize the importance of developing “lawyer-statespersons” who exhibit practical wisdom and share a passion for pursuing the common good.

Keywords: Legal Education, Law, Lawyers, Law Students, Professionalism, Professional Formation, Mentor, Mentors, Mentoring, Apprenticeship, Lawyer Statesment, Legal History

JEL Classification: I20, I21, 125, I26, I29, K10, K19, K30, K39, K40

Suggested Citation

Madison III, Benjamin V. and Gantt, II, Larry O. Natt, Morals and Mentors: What the First American Law Schools Can Teach Us About Developing Law Students' Professional Identity (June 12, 2019). Regent University Law Review, Vol. 51, No. 161, 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3403014 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3403014

Benjamin V. Madison III (Contact Author)

Regent University School of Law ( email )

1000 Regent University Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23464
United States
757.226.4586 (Phone)
757.226.4329 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.regent.edu

Larry O. Natt Gantt, II

High Point University Kenneth F. Kahn School Law ( email )

One University Parkway
High Point, NC 27268
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
156
Abstract Views
831
Rank
402,588
PlumX Metrics