Reinventing Legal Education

The profession of law is fundamental to the flourishing of American democracy. Today, however, critics of the legal profession, both from within and without, have pointed to a great profession suffering from varying degrees of confusion and demoralization. A reawakening of professional élan must include revitalizing legal preparation. It is hard to imagine that taking place without the enthusiastic participation of the nation’s law schools. Law school provides the single experience that virtually all legal professionals share.

It is the place and time where expert knowledge and judgment are communicated from advanced practitioner to beginner. It is where the profession puts its defining values and exemplars on display, and future practitioners can begin both to assume and critically examine their future identities. –SUMMARY: EDUCATING LAWYERS, preparation for the profession of law, (The Carnegie Report)