Volume 5 Winter 2011 Number 2 - Charleston Law Review

SCHULZE FINAL.doc1/20/2011 6:14PM2011] Law School Academic Supportseeking a lawyer position, and were happier.” 4 As such, if anASP provides autonomy support, it will indirectly provide anincreased likelihood of real learning and thus professionalsuccess.Part II of this Article further explores what is meant by ASP;it chronicles the historical development of law school ASPs andexplains some of the methods these programs now employ. PartIII discusses the “Humanizing the Law School” movement anddescribes the general philosophies and goals of the project,allowing a subsequent demonstration of how ASPs fulfill thesegoals. Part IV focuses on the psychological concepts of SDT andautonomy support. Part V analyzes exactly how the methods ofacademic support fulfill the goals of the humanizing movementand lead to an increase in perceived autonomy support instudents; it refers to specific examples of law school ASP methodsto prove this point. Part VI concludes that more schools shouldadopt or expand ASPs and introduces an empirical study testingthe dual theses of this Article that will be published in asubsequent piece.II. WHAT IS LAW SCHOOL ACADEMIC SUPPORT?Proving the thesis that ASPs humanize legal education,enhance self-determination, and provide autonomy supportrequires the initial step of defining these terms. Unfortunately,these three terms may be foreign to many members of the legalacademy. ASPs all too frequently are virtually hidden fromfaculty at many law schools, oftentimes due to ASP professionals’relatively marginalized position in the hierarchy of the lawschool structure. This is a disservice to all because, upon closerinspection, many doctrinal faculty would find that ASPprofessionals share many of the same methods and goals astraditional casebook instructors. As such, with the hope ofshedding light on such common ground, this section details theterm ASP.4. Lawrence S. Krieger, Human Nature as a New Guiding Philosophy forLegal Education and the Profession, 47 WASHBURN L.J. 247, 262 (2008).273