In this statement prepared for an orientation program for incoming law students, focus is on the general objectives of legal training and on student expectations. (LBH)

A way is described to expose first-year law students to a whole case and thus to blend in appellate decisions, statutes, and scholarly articles as they might be discovered and used by the parties and the court. (MLW)

An experimental program at Stanford University called "Lawyering Process" is described. The goals of the course include: (1) introducing legal planning and basic interpersonal skills; (2) examining the concepts of "professionalism"; (3) placing legal research and writing assignments in the context of law practice; and (4)…

Many law professors feel challenged by the "quiet" student who does not participate readily in class discussions. Identifying the quiet students is seen as the key to getting them involved. A range of responses to attract the quiet student's attention and some alternatives to attract interest are provided. (MLW)

Addressed are the questions of what factors other than intellectual ability influence achievement in law school, and whether these influences are felt differently by women and men. The study results indicate that, generally, women who see themselves as being "masculine" are more successful in law school. (JMD)

An exploratory study suggests that legal and medical training can have a negative impact on marriage: role behaviors learned during professional socialization and transferred to the spouse role are not conducive to a satisfying marital relationship, and student and spouse roles compete for time and personal commitment. (MSE)

The Land Development Law course at George Washington University is an approach to teach the basic concepts of land management and control through a "game" simulation. Instead of studying the law, students actively participate in a simulated real-life environment where they can practice and develop their legal skills. (MLW)

Two studies of law students' attitudes and characteristics reveal some aspects of how the curriculum relates to their moral development, professional and general. It is suggested that law schools should focus on the development of role-taking skills and investigate the sequencing of courses. (MSE)

The interdisciplinary relevance of moral philosophy and developmental moral psychology to a paramount task of legal education--developing in students the capacity and readiness for ethical reasoning--is explored. The aim is to shape professional education so that professionalism is a fulfillment, not a denial, of students' moral nature. (MSE)

Role playing in first-year legal education can serve to teach doctrine and to encourage self-reflection and student cooperation. Role plays used to meet these goals in a contracts course include: a contract controversy, jury instructions and argument, mock appellate argument, negotiation, a trial, counseling, and legislating. (MSE)

The extent to which American legal education may have contributed and may be contributing to this society's use of litigation as a means of resolving conflict is considered. Legal scholarship fostered the development of a common law system which gave American courts vast, and largely unguided, lawmaking responsibilities. (MLW)

This time of student agitation offers law schools opportunities for substantial improvement in legal education and legal scholarship. (IR)

What is wrong with the law curriculum, how to improve it, and obstacles to be overcome are discussed. The law curriculum is seen as: deficient in structure, not sufficiently diverse, neither sufficiently theoretical nor sufficiently practical, and not always sufficiently demanding. (MLW)

The law school curriculum is excessively committed to doctrinal learning as differentiated from (1) theoretical and (2) practical learning. Law schools have an educational responsibility to offer their students a modicum of instruction in the applied skills of legal representation. (MLW)

A lawyer discusses legal education: the law's purpose to deliver competent legal services to the public; the widening gap in the preparedness of new lawyers; whose responsibility it is to prepare lawyers for competent practice--law schools, the bar, the government; responsibilities of practicing lawyers, etc. (MLW)