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3 Law Student 1 (1925-1926)

handle is hein.journals/lwstud3 and id is 1 raw text is: THE LAW STUDENT VOL. III, No. 1 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK OCTOBER 1, 1925 BAR EXAMINATIONS Their Character and How They Should Be Graded Obviously nothing is of more practical importance and interest to the law student than the test which will be presented to him for admission to the Bar and the manner in which he will be expected to handle the same. Likewise, nothing is of greater importance and interest to the legal profession and public generally. Admission to the Bar of applicants who, in fact, are not prepared satisfactorily to perform the high duties of competency and trust imposed upon lawyers, is a calamity not only to the public and to the legal profession, but also to such lawyers theiselves. The ascertainment of the fitness for the practice of law possessed by applicants for admission to the bar presents such problems for solution that The Law Student, in order to clear the way for a free discus- sion of them, has seen fit to address certain inquiries to judges, bar examiners, and professors in law schools. A large correspondence has resulted, there- from, and we present herewith our first analysis of the many replies received. The questions were four in number, as follows: (1) Why do so many law students fail to pass the bar ex- amination? (2) What should be the character of bar examination questions? (3) What are the best rules to Copyright 1923 by Harlow Publishing Co. govern the grading of examination papers ? (4) Should the use of a law library be permitted in answering some of the bar questions? The replies called forth by these questions cover a WHO NOT UP very wide field of experience and speculation on the v part of the gentlemen addressed. to be weeded out of the Bar Why So Many Failures? at the expense of clients, a From the replies to the disgrace happily now passed. Thomas Addis Emmet, standing won speedy advance question Why do so many Those who are like him are th o the Irish patriot, ment for him. students fail to pass the bar not all weeded out by the obert Emmet, was born in In 1795 he joined the Society examination? it 'appears that law schools and still present Cork, Ireland, on April 24th, of United Irishmen, and be- there is substantial unanimity themselves for examination. 1764. He entered Trinity Col- came one of its most influen- of opinion among judges, bar in this state of transition it lege, Dublin, at the age of tial leaders He quickly came examliners, and law school is plain that many must be fourteen, and there displayed to prominence as a lawyer of professors. In essence, they rejected and that this must the most brilliant scholarship, nationalist sympathies; gradu- state that inadequate prepara- continue for some time, at He received the degree of ally his law practice became tion is the reason. least as long as the examina- LL.B. from Trinity, and then more and more political. The tions increase in severity, began and completed a medical government offered him the Judges Iand, to some extent, forever. course at Edinburgh Univer- solicitor-generalship of Ire- For instance, an Associate I think that this is desirable. sity, Scotland, after which he land, with a promise that he Justice of the Supreme Court For the good of the public was resident physician for a should succeed to the next va- of Colorado states: and as a matter of ptblic pol- time at a London hospital, and cant judgeship, hut Emmet re I do not think the reason icy, the examination ought to subsequently engaged in medi- jected the proposal. for so many failures at the be selective, and to that end, cal practice at Dublin. Shortly He was arrested in 1798, to bar examinations is greatly in a sense, competitive. after his arrival there he was gether with the other leaders because of faults in the ques- A Justice of tme Supreme appointed a court physician, a of the United Irishmen, and tions but more because of the, Court of Florida states: post which conferred trust and was first confined in Newgate quality of the candidates andl In my judgment the fun- carried substantial remunera- Prison, Dublin, but later was oF their preparation. We all damental reaso for the lion. However, under the urg- removed to Fort George, Scot- know that not long ago these large percentage of failures ing of his father, he shortly land. Emmet was in prison for examinations were perfunc in our bar examinations is abandoned medicine for the more than three years, but toryb I remember one case twofold, as follows: (1) Lack law, and devoted two years and finally he was released with where the committee good- of academic and professio nal' a half to its study at the Tem- others and transported to Hol- naturedly admitted a candi nualifications on the part of ple in London, returning to land. Thence he went to Paris, date f r om wh omn they the applicant. (2) A too IDublin and securing admission and was formally appointed by sought in vain for a correct great tendency on the part to the Irish Bar in 1790. His the United Irishmen to repre answer to any question. This of the bar exaniners to ro- legal talents, remarkable do- sent them there. During his man and other like him had (Contintied page 4, eel. 4) quence, and his family's high (Continued page 4, tel. 2) NEWS OF THE SCHOOLS Yale University School of Law New Haven, Conn. Karl Nickerson Llewellyn, associate professor of law at Yale, now goes to Columbia to teach in the law school there, being succeeded by Ros- coe B. Turner, of Idaho, who lately has practiced law in New York. Edward Ray- mond Turner, Yale professor of English history, and Ed- ward 11. Morgan, professor in Yale Law School, also are to leave Yale. Professor Morgan goes to Harvard Law School. A new professorship is to be established in Yale Law School as the result of a gift from George H. Townsend, Bronx- ville, N. Y., to the memory of his father, the late Judge Wil- liam K. Townsend, who, after teaching in Yale, became a fed- eral judge in both district and circuit courts, obtaining re- nown in the Second Federal Circuit. Harvard Law School Robert Alphonso Taft, son of the 26th President of the United States, obtained the highest honors ever bestowed by Harvard Law School. University of Wisconsin Law School Madison, Wis. Dean S. H. Richards of the law school of the University of Wisconsin says that practically every citizen is a law violator. And the dean's statement is entirely within the truth. There is scarcely an automobilist who does not, at some time or other, exceed the speed limit estab- lished by city ordinance or state legislation. Most cities have an ordinance which makes the dropping of a gum wrapper on the street a violation of law. Parking cars near fire hydrants is not an uncommon thing, yet this violates a law. There are rules against talking to the motorman, but the people still talk. And the so- called good people often regard law as something to take with reservations. If doing a for- bidden act does not in his opinion involve any danger to him, many a good citizen will disregard the law. It seems that there are too many laws. There are so many pro- hibitions and regulations that one must read several hours a day on nothing but laws and ordinances if he would find out what he can and cannot do. (Continued page 5, col. 4)

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