Law School, Part II

I first wrote about law school in the early posts on this blog and maybe it is time to revisit the issue. I have noticed a distinct change in law students over the years, and this year seems to be representative of those changes. I am finding the first year students to be very engaged in the school process and much more inclined to work together in study groups. They seem to be doing it "by the numbers" also. By that I mean they are spending a good deal of time in the horn book rather than using study outlines like Gilberts. These are all good changes. I am impressed also at the level of actual legal insight and more so than in past years.

As I have said, law school is guided self learning. A law student gets out of law school exactly what she or he puts into it. Law Professors like myself try to guide this self learning process by explaining the difficult legal issues, and allowing the students to come up with the correct answers. Most do....some do not. While most who are admitted to a law school have the ability to be successful, some do not have the self discipline or drive to make it through. The failure rate for law school is ultimately about 75% historically. In my opinion, it is really about 25% based on actual ability, and the remainder fail because they choose to.

You see, law school changes the way law students think. They become more abstract. More analytical. They loose the luxury of being comfortable jumping to conclusions. With the possible exception of medicine, I know of no other professional process which does this. Some are simply uncomfortable with this and they choose to move on. That's fine. It is their choice.

But, things are changing. I have noticed a number of CPA's, teachers, engineers, and even a couple of PhD's and MD's in my classes. Many are there for a professional career change, some are their just looking for an intellectual challenge. Whatever their reason, overall, law students seem better equipped to handle the material and I foresee the failure rates to drop.....And that is a very good thing. ...... P.S. Merry Christmas to all.