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1984 Newsl. 1 (1984)

handle is hein.aals/aalsnews1984 and id is 1 raw text is: 
    Assn. of American Law Schools Newsletter
a                     84-1


ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LAW SCHOOLS * ONE DUPONTCIRCLE * WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036


JANUARY 1984


                           Legal Education:
                           An Accounting

                           Joseph R. Julin


      (Prepared for delivery to the House of Representatives at the Association of
American Law Schools, January 5, 1984, San Francisco.)

      President Vernon, assuming the role of Chancellor and thus keeper of the
Association's conscience pro tempore, has directed us to make an accounting. At
least, that's the way I read the agenda he has set for the plenary session. He
likens our role to the fiduciary of an important public trust. By implication, he
indicates our position as such may well be subject to challenge by others who
would assume substantial parts of this responsibility to the exclusion of the legal
educator.

      The hearing will begin with the calling of a number of expert witnesses. I
assume their testimony is intended to define the terms of our trust against which
the adequacy of our accounting will be measured. There may be some disagreement
concerning the precise limit of our obligations or there would be no need for
commentators. Knowing both the witnesses and commentators, I will be astounded if
the testimony and the observations of the commentators which follow do not raise
some controversy.

      In any event, a basic treatise to which one might turn in preparation for
this hearing is Frank Allen's Law, Intellect and Education. (If I had the
authority to strike a gold medal, the first one upon whom it would be bestowed is
this finest of legal scholars.) He reminds us that the principal purpose of a
University is discovery, accumulation and transmission of knowledge including
the identification and analysis of values and the communication of professional
techniques. As I read him, he sees no possibility of a faculty member being
either teacher or scholar or one possessing technical expertise. The law teacher is
all three.

      Presumably, the Chancellor will seek to determine the extent to which we
fulfill our obligations as so defined. That, of course is only the beginning.
Surely we will hear that as law teachers we are expected fully to develop the
potential of the human resources which, somehow, have been attracted to our part
of the academic world. If the accounting we are about to present indicates we are
doing less, are we not vulnerable to a charge of waste? That's a charge which
has already been leveled in varying forms. The critics usually offer little proof.
Some, I suppose, would assert little is needed.


JTIVE DIRECTOR: MILLARD H. RUUD


EDITOR: NOEL J. AUGUSTYN, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR               EXECI
                         Printing and Distribution Courtesy of Foundation Press, Inc.

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