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collaboration Between clinical and Doctrinal Professors for Teaching First-Year Law Students By Julie D. Lawton, DePaul college of Law Like many young law students, I enjoyed the intellectual challenges I encountered learning legal theory and case law. however, I was frustrated as a young lawyer in practice when I realized that, while I knew a lot about legal theory, I knew very little about legal practice. while I could recite to you the many theories of contract law with great confidence, I could not draft a thorough reps and warranties clause without using a template. There are many arguments, reports, and pleas for legal education reform to help our students graduate with better preparation for practice. and, to a certain extent, the legal academy has responded. Many, if not most, law schools now offer clinical education, externships, and other experiential learning opportunities for their students. and, as a clinician, I support these efforts. however, for a variety of reasons, not all students have, or take advantage of, these opportunities. In addition, experiential learning opportunities are generally available primarily to second- and third-year students. as such, students’ initial learning of the law as first-year students is couched in case analysis and theory with little integration of legal practice, client counseling needs, or practical implementation of what they are learning. Students, as is the case with many of us, learn well when given the opportunity to implement what they learn. This is the case in elementary school, high school, and college where students learn by watching and reading during 20 | The Law Teacher | FaLL 2012 the day and then are given homework to reinforce what they learned at night. however, students often are not given the same opportunity to implement the theory of what they have learned in their first-year law classes. During first-year classes, students are asked to brief a case and then discuss the case analysis during class. Throughout the semester and toward the end of the semester, students then are asked to produce an outline and use other study guides to help them learn the material. however, students rarely are asked to submit any written assignments to reinforce what they've learned or engage in other exercises I suggest that first-year law professors consider amending their curricula to not only give students more of an opportunity to implement what they have learned, but also to incorporate more practice skills early in students’ legal learning. allowing them to implement the theories they have learned. while I have heard, and give some credence to, the argument that law school is a professional school and not a vocational school, I find that argument somewhat disingenuous. we are, in fact, or at least we should be, teaching our law students how to practice. whether students are practicing transactional, litigation, administration, or advocacy law, understanding how to utilize the legal theories we learn as students to become effective advocates for clients is an integral part of the work that many of our students are expected to perform upon graduation. Teaching students how to practice, despite the arguments of some, is not the purpose of employers. and, employers are increasingly making it clear that they will not accept that as their role either. Training law students is a responsibility with which law schools are endowed and which, for the most part, we perform quite well. This essay suggests additional teaching practices as ways to further improve the legal training we provide our first-year law students. I suggest that first-year law professors consider amending their curricula to not only give students more of an opportunity to implement what they have learned, but also to incorporate more practice skills early in students' legal learning. This will accomplish some important goals. First, it will reinforce the legal theory that students learn in case law analysis. In addition, it will help students learn how to convert legal theory into effective counsel for their clients. These changes will, in turn, ease the transition from being a law student to being a practicing attorney. Lastly, it can help make young lawyers even more effective counselors to their clients as it can help produce more graduates who are “practice ready.” while many law professors are open to these ideas, one of the challenges is determining how to incorporate this additional information given the time constraints inherent in first-year classes. clinicians, who tend to teach second- and third-year students, and professors, who teach first-year classes, should consider working together to incorporate into first-year law classes, more of the practical skills inherent in legal practice. In a first-year contracts class, for example, the clinician of a transactional clinic could use half of one — continued on page 21
collaboration Between clinical and Doctrinal Professors for Teaching First Year Law Students — continued from page 20 class session to lead a short simulation exercise or small group exercise that includes negotiating, drafting, reviewing, and analyzing a contract. I have used a very simple contract drafting exercise in my clinic seminar requiring students to negotiate and draft a short contract. we then review the drafted provisions as a class and discuss what is missing in the drafting. This exercise can be done in about 45 minutes. It is a quick exercise, but sufficient to give the students a brief introduction to a contract as a living document that is a negotiated agreement between parties designed to accomplish a common goal; my students learn that contract law is not just a theoretical array of rules and constructs. alternatively, the clinician can lead the students in a small group exercise negotiating a simple business deal. It is not unusual for parties in a business deal to make subsequent agreements and amendments after a contract is executed. Leading the students in an exercise to draft short amendments can help them understand the importance of a well-drafted contract, the importance of strategy in deal planning, and the importance of client counseling. Many clinics often have student presentations on a topic or student led classes. This approach loosely follows a ‘Learn one, do one, teach one’ approach built on the idea that students may learn more effectively when their study material is reinforced by having to do more than read. There is a fundamental difference in learning and retention between reading a math proof and having to write one. Clinicians and firstyear professors could work together to craft similar student-led exercises for first-year law students. There is value in having a clinician conduct these exercises in the class. clinicians often direct these types of exercises and simulations regularly and thus, have the exercises ready for implementation. In addition, clinicians might bring a more practical approach to learning that can be a useful contrast to the case-law analysis frequently used in first-year courses. Non-clinical professors frequently guest lecture in clinical seminars on specific topics and we, as clinicians, could do the same. clinical and non-clinical professors can make an effort to work together to find at least one or two classes, even if the classes are review classes at the end of the semester, to help our students bridge the gap between the theory, which is the ALL IN THE FAMILY Solution substance of the work we do, and the practical implementation of it for our clients. Such an approach could also be very helpful in bridging the gap between clinicians and non-clinicians in creating a more cohesive learning and working environment. ____________ Julie D. Lawton is assistant clinical professor at DePaul College of Law. Contact her at jlawton1@depaul.edu. S E X I S M . A F . H A S P R O M . O . M A N A G E O A R . D O M I C I L E D U S . N O N A G E . T I U S E . C U S T O D Y . S C E R A . G E R . . H O M E . . J U S T I C I A R . . S T A R . . M R S . D O E C E . U N H O U S E . T N A D R . O E N E U S . T J L I F E S T Y L E . T A O P U L L E T . T . K I W I S M P . S Y . Y E O M A N The Law Teacher | FaLL 2012 | 21
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