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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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