Fall 1983 – Issue 30 - Stanford Lawyer - Stanford University

~o~ Cff-VIMtu'0r-STATE OF THE SCHOOL continuedJ. Keith MannAssociate Dean, Academic AffairsDean MannRobert Paradise '29, TheodoreWeisman '31, and Professor HowardWilliams (holder ofthe new ParadiseChair in Natural Resources Law)Dean Mann reviewed the evolutionof the Stanford Law School curriculumfrom the late 1800s (the Harvardmodel), through the 1950s ("a realcurriculum taught by giants"), tothe innovations now being implemented."We have been laboring for somethingthat will be modern and thatwill prepare people not only for whatthey will be doing right out of lawschool but also twenty years later,"he said. Students should receive abalanced curricular experience thatimparts the necessary traditionalknowledge, cultivates the essentialtechnical lawyer's skills, and simultaneouslyfosters a capacity foradaptation to the changing worldin which they will live their professionallives.Dean Mann noted that even thosecourses that appear to have the samename as twenty years ago may differgreatly in content.In the past, he observed, the structureof education at most Americanlaw schools was fairly uniform. In recentyears, however, some schools,Stanford notably among them, havebegun to move in new directions."Times have changed, and issueshave changed," he said - "not to mentionstudents. The curriculum in allyears is being expanded, ways arebeing sought to familiarize studentswith the institutional arrangementsin which they are likely to work,more small group instruction isbeing provided, and students arebeing given more opportunity toeducate themselves."Stanford is, he said, in the forefrontof these developments. "Providingto all in the course of theirthree years a distinctively differentand progressively more advancedkind of academic or practical learningexperience remains a foremostbut elusive target."Dean Mann then outlined therevised first-year curriculum beingintroduced in 1983/84. This curriculumis based on the traditional firstyearsequence but incorporatesimportant elements of the experimentalCurriculum B, which ranparallel to the standard CurriculumA for the past three years. The distinctionbetween Curriculum Bandthe rest of the first-year program willhave been eliminated. The revisedfirst-year course of study, he said,seeks to offer the new law student "abroad exposure to the variety that isthe law and the variety of ways inwhich differing minds approach it."All entering students, Dean Mannexplained, will now begin theautumn term with a four-day program,designed and tested in "B," "tointroduce them to the study of law."Topics covered include case analysis,legal institutions, and law andsociety or legal culture. "Studentsseemed to appreciate the establishmentof an introductory foundationfacilitating the transition into theregular class structure," he said.The rest of the term will be devotedto the basic first-year subjects-CivilProcedure, Contracts,Criminal Law, and Torts, as well aslegal research and writing.The spring term includes twomore required courses (ConstitutionalLaw and Property) and acontinuation of legal research andwriting. In addition, students willchoose two or three electives fromamong a varied menu of "perspective"courses: Law and Philosophy(Jurisprudence), Law in RadicallyDifferent Cultures, History ofAmerican Law, Economics for Lawyers/ Finance Theory [see ((Law andBusiness" discussion below], Legislativeand Administrative Process,and Lawyering Process.Lawyering Process, Dean Mannexplained, is an innovative course,developed by Professor Paul Brestand several colleagues as part ofCurriculum B, which introducesstudents to "adversarial procedures,issues of professional responsibility,and alternative methods of settlingdisputes, such as arbitration."The development of the Economicsfor Lawyers / Finance Theorycourse is regarded as an importantstep in creating a modern businesslaw curriculum.In sum, Dean Mann said, "the revisedfirst-year curriculum representsa highly promising blend of thetraditional with the new."32Stanford Lawyer Fall 1983