Blackstone's Tower: The English Law School - College of Social ...

What are Law Schools for?
91. While none of these elements is, on its own, peculiar to law,
perhaps no other discipline combines them in quite the same way or to
the same degree. The study of law can be (a) as intellectually exacting
as philosophy, but more down to earth; (b) as concerned with contemporary,
real-life problems as medicine or engineering, but with a greater
diversity of concerns and with closer links to the humanities; (c) as concerned
with power and decision-making as political science, but more
concerned with the processes and practicalities of wielding power and,
indeed, often more concerned with the limits and abuses of power and
the importance of accountability to processes which are seen to be fair.
92. The strength of law as a discipline lies in the fact that it is so
multi-dimensional. The teacher is called upon (a) to strike a balance
between the elements which make up law; (b) to be informed about
and deal adequately in today's world, with the closely related subjects
from which law must draw much of its wisdom; (c) to provide both
"academic" and "practical" insights; and (d) to use methods which
motivate, stimulate and engage students in issues of theory, doctrinal
learning, skill-development and engagement with concrete problems." 37
The case is cogent and there is no need to overstate it. A similarly
strong argument might be made for several other disciplines in the
humanities and social sciences or for some combinations of them.
Some disciplines may be better vehicles for enlarging the imagination
or developing numeracy or for rigorous application of disciplined
method. Many of the so-called "transferable" skills of reading,
writing, talking, thinking clearly, enquiring, analysing and
arguing and, in the modern jargon, "learning how to learn" can
be developed through the study of any number of subjects. The
idea of a liberal education relates to how and in what spirit one
studies rather to any particular subject-matter. The "case for law"
quoted above is not that it is superior to other disciplines, but rather
that it can claim to be potentially as good a vehicle for a general
education as English or History or Politics or Sociology. It is rather
more flexible and wide-ranging than some other subjects that are
also seen to be vocationally oriented.
At a debate in April, 1994, organised by the Association of Law
Teachers in a Committee Room of the House of Lords, a motion
that "This House believes that we are producing too many law
graduates" was defeated unanimously by an audience of about 50
people, by no means all of whom were law teachers (who might
be thought to have a vested interest in voting as they did). In opposing
the motion, Professor Dawn Oliver, as a good advocate, concentrated
on a single theme. "Why pick on law?", she asked, and
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