ON THE EDUCATION OF A LAWYER

"One may well doubt the efficacy of the many schemes devised to reorient the thinking of lawyers by altering legal education in America. These proposals come mostly from academic lawyers who, like their medical school counterparts, have a rather different view of their profession than do their client-oriented former students. Many academic lawyers would like to see a public-spirited political elite replace the private-law practicing lawyers whom they now teach....Everything from the study of Chaucer to the pursuit of 'social science' has been proposed to this end. What has not been shown, however, is that changes in the content of courses alter the social behavior and attitudes of students once they enter upon their professional life. Given the very real demands for his services in our society, there is no reason why the young lawyer should not follow Lord Coke and make meum and tuum his favorite words rather than the vocabulary of social science." --Former Harvard Professor Judith N. Shklar in Legalism