University of Maryland School of Law : Catalog, 1988-1989

"Our objective in the following
Course is to produce a
learned and accomplished
lawyer."
David Hoffman
"We are told that the study of
law sharpens the mind by narrowing
it—and there is indeed
more point to the remark
than most of us care to
admit. But the great masters
of our profession are those
who are able to become accomplished
technicians without
losing sight of the goals
and values which are what
the law, on its highest level, is
all about—the judge who can
see in the most trivial of cases
the broadest of issues, the
scholar whose meticulous research
leads to fresh insights
and novel patterns, the practitioner
who organizes complexity
in his client's interest but
also with a due regard to
what the public interest may
require. The late Karl Llewellyn
observed that: technique
without values is wickedness;
values without technique is
foolishness."
Grant Gilmore
GENERAL
INFORMATION
History
The early years of the University
of Maryland School of Law, one of
the oldest law schools in the
United States, were dominated by
a young Baltimore attorney named
David Hoffman, a scholar whose
views on legal education were far
in advance of his time. In 1816
Hoffman was selected to be the
school's first professor of law. Soon
thereafter he published A Course of
Legal Study, a well-organized
method of formal law study which
brought him praise from leading
lawyers and jurists of the day. One
reviewer pronounced Hoffman's
work "by far the most perfect system
for the study of law which has
ever been offered to the public,"
and Supreme Court Justice Joseph
Story called it "an honor to the
country." Regular instruction at the
school was begun in 1824. However,
it was suspended approximately
10 years later when
Hoffman departed for Europe. The
law school was revived in 1869 and
in 1870 regular instruction was resumed.
The law school has held American
Bar Association approval since
1930 and Association of American
Law Schools membership since
1931. The Maryland Law Review
was first published in 1936 and a
chapter of Order of the Coif, the
national law honor society, was established
at the school in 1938.
Governance
As a constituent school of the
University of Maryland, the
School of Law is ultimately
accountable to the Board of Regents
and to the chief administrative
officers of the university. Subject
to the overall guidance of the
regents and university officials, the
law school is primarily governed by
the Faculty Council which consists
of the full- time faculty, one representative
of the part-time faculty
and three nonvoting representatives
from the Student Bar Association.
Much of the work of the
Faculty Council is accomplished in
committees (for example, research,
curriculum, administrative) in
which student representatives may
serve as voting members. The Faculty
Council usually meets each
month during the school year and
establishes overall policies for the
operation of the school.
The dean of the law school,
who is charged with the overall
management responsibility for the
school, is assisted by an associate
dean for academic affairs, and assistant
deans for administration,
admissions and student services,
alumni and development, and career
services.