Settling for Six: Should the American Bar Association Have Done More to Promote Experiential Learning in Law Schools
![handle is hein.journals/jlegpro39 and id is 325 raw text is: SETTLING FOR SIX: SHOULD THE AMERICAN BAR
ASSOCIATION HAVE DONE MORE TO PROMOTE
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN LAW SCHOOLS?
I. INTRODUCTION
The employment prospects for today's law graduates are bleak: only
fifty-seven percent of the class of 2013 became gainfully employed in a
position requiring a J.D. nine months after graduation.' This lack of
available legal jobs is partly a product of the economic recession that
forced firms to downsize2 and the increased use of contract labor and
technology.3 However, a growing group of scholars believes the failure of
law schools to properly prepare their graduates is contributing to new law
graduates' inability to obtain employment . Instead of teaching students
practical legal skills, law professors focus on helping law students learn
how to think like a lawyer'5 by using the case method to teach substantive
legal doctrines.6
In the past, law firms took on the responsibility of teaching their new
associates the practical skills needed to become successful attorneys.7 In
today's legal market, firms no longer have the time, money, or desire to
1. Karen Sloan, 'Very Modest' Jobs Growth Seen for Law School Graduates, THE NAT'L L.J.
(Apr. 9, 2014), available at http://www.nationallawjoumal.com/legaltimes/id= 1202650371787?.
2. Robert R. Kuehn, Pricing Clinical Legal Education, 92 DENVER U. L. REV. 2 (Aug. 15, 2014),
available at http://papers.ssm.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract id=2318042.
3. A.B.A. TASK FORCE ON THE FUTURE OF LEGAL EDUC., DRAFT REPORT ON PROPOSED
REFORMS TO PRICING, ACCREDITING, AND LICENSING 12 (Sept. 20, 2013) [hereinafter TASK FORCE ON
THE FUTURE OF LEGAL EDUC.], available at
http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional responsibility/taskforcecom
ments/task force on legaleducation draft report september2013.authcheckdam.pdf.
4. See Kuehn, supra note 2, at 2; ILL. STATE BAR ASS'N, FINAL REPORT, FINDINGS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE IMPACT OF LAW SCHOOL DEBT ON THE DELIVERY OF LEGAL SERVICES 28
(June 22, 2013) [hereinafter THE IMPACT OF LAW SCHOOL DEBT], available at
http://www.isba.orgisites/default/files/committees/Law /o2OSchool / 20Debt /2OReport /o20- /203-8-
13.pdf (noting that the difficult job market facing new law graduates is a partly a result of inadequate
training of law students for the jobs that are available).
5. Kuehn, supra note 2, at 2.
6. David Segal, What They Don't Teach Law Students: Lawyering, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 19, 2011,
available at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/business/after-law-school-associates-leam-to-be-
lawyers.html?pagewanted=all&_ r0.
7. TASK FORCE ON THE FUTURE OF LEGAL EDUC., supra note 3, at 15.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jlegpro39&div=20&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Settling for Six: Should the American Bar Association Have Done More to Promote Experiential Learning in Law Schools
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most