The Top 10 Law School Stories of 2014

Dean Nick Allard

Dean Nick Allard


9) What to Say to a Law School Bound Middle Schooler: “I plan to study law and am inquiring about the majors you offer for this field… to help set me on the right path and direction to become a successful law student and someday a defense attorney.”
Would you believe that question came from a 13-year old? Well, it came as a shock to Dean Nick Allard of Brooklyn Law School, the recipient of this unusual request. So how do you respond to an aspiring Atticus Finch? If you’re looking to have your faith in the law reaffirmed, you can’t miss this timeless advice from Allard.
 
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson


10) Should Apprenticeships Come Back: Ah, the good old days. Before the ABA set accreditation standards and law schools began proliferating near the turn of the 20th Century, students would “read law.” Call it a modern day apprenticeship, where they’d clerk for a judge or attorney for several years before receiving certification based on legal fitness and moral character. It was this practice that yielded great legal minds like Thomas Jefferson and Clarence Darrow.
These days, 42 states require a law degree as a condition for taking the bar (and only four states allow students without formal legal education to sit). Thanks to the ABA, law schools hold a virtual monopoly for entering the legal profession. As critics note, legal education is better at churning out law professors than practicing attorneys. With law school tuition jumping by nearly 40% between 2004-2012, some wonder if it is time to bring back the “country lawyer” concept.
But is this 18th Century model still viable in an increasingly complex legal landscape? Ask three different experts and you’ll get three different answers. And it’s no different with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky (University of California-Irvine), David Lat (Above the Law), and Professor Brian Z. Tamanaha (University of St. Louis). Check out their views here and let us know what you think.
Here are some additional posts worthy of honorable mention:
STANDALONE LAW SCHOOLS AREN’T ALL DOOMED
FOUNDING A COMPANY IN THE THICK OF LAW SCHOOL
AN INTERVIEW WITH NORTHWESTERN’S FORWARD-THINKING DEAN
BUSTING THE LAWYER STEREOTYPE: AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR AND ATTORNEY PAULA FRANZESE
FORMER STUDENTS SUE LAW SCHOOL OVER GRADE
THE TACTICS THAT LED TO THE EXPULSION OF A HARVARD LAW STUDENT
MY STORY: FROM LEHMAN BROTHERS TO THE NEW YORK ISLANDERS
GETTING INTO LAW SCHOOL FROM A COMMUNITY COLLEGE
DEPRESSION: A NECESSARY CONVERSATION

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