Fall 1983 – Issue 30 - Stanford Lawyer - Stanford University

@otwrA 4vJ41~ .SUMMARY AND ADVISORY SESSIONG. Williams Rutherford '50 and Alan Rosenberg, AB '49r. Duryea, speaking as chairM of the Board of Visitors, expressedthe members' appreciationand enjoyment of the proceedingsand interactions that had taken placethroughout the meeting.Dean Ely then commented onsome concerns raised in conversationswith various members.Admissions decisions, he explained,"are not made by computer-they're made on a very personalbasis." The folders of each applicantare reviewed carefully, andwe consider not only LSAT scoresand grade-point averages, but alsowritten recommendations and informationon past academic work experiences,interests and activities,and other relevant characteristics."We're a small law school," Dean Elynoted, "and we're able to make thedecisions more carefully."The Dean also acknowledged thevery strong message, expressedmany times throughout the meeting,that law schools should "give moreattention to alternative methods ofdispute settlement- methods otherthan litigation."The course by Professor Mnookinand Ms. Moulton mentioned earlierin the program speaks directly tothat concern, the Dean observed.Aptly titled Alternative Methodsof Dispute Settlement, it examinesnegotiation, mediation, arbitration,and adjudication, with readings fromeconomics, social psychology, decisiontheory, and legal theory.The Lawyering Process course forfirst-year students, Dean Ely continued,is also "centrally designed tosocialize students to the idea thatmany or most legal disputes can,and probably should, be settled bytalking about them and negotiatingrather than actually taking them tocourt."As these examples indicate, DeanEly said, the School is well aware ofthe need for education in alternativemethods of dispute settlement, buthe agreed with the Visitors that furtherprogress in that direction wouldbe eminently desirable-not only forthe School but also for the professionas a whole.Dean Ely then asked for questionsand comments from the members ofthe Board of Visitors.One member mentioned that studentsin the small lunch group inwhich she participated had expressedthe feeling that perhaps theSchool "doesn't make it easy enoughto get into public interest law."Dean Ely responded that theSchool is, in fact, doing a great dealto ensure that students are informedof their many career options, asdetailed in his memo to studentsissued January 25 [see pp. 53-55], andin meetings sponsored by the PlacementOffice and by the faculty. Thiseffort will continue, he said, butultimately, the choice is and mustbe the responsibility of the studentsthemselves.The possibility of starting apooled, revolving student-aid loanfund was suggested by anothermember of the Board. Deans Diazand McBride responded that theywould pursue the idea, to seewhether it was administrativelypracticable.In closing, Dean Ely thankedBoard Chair Les Duryea for his fineservice during the 1982/83 term andparticularly for his initiative in organizingthe stimulating panelon Successful Lawyering-a "uniquecontribution" to this year's Board ofVisitors meeting agenda. _44Stanford Lawyer Fall 1983