Admissions Essays
Blog  |  About Us  |  Help Center  |  
Admission Essay & Personal Statement Development Services
Admissions Essays Blog
Through our very own editors and guest writers, this blog will discuss the INSIDE scoop on the admissions process of various schools and programs. If you wish to ask a specific question, please write to us, and we will make every attempt to address your questions in our future blog discussions.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Amidst a Struggling Job Market, Law Schools Change Curriculum
In the wake of the economic downturn, few professional degrees have seen such a dip in employment as those in the field of law. Law school admissions aren't down, but the job market for law school graduates is. Exorbitant tuition and several years of heavy academic investment are not paying dividends for law graduates. Many frustrated law students are blaming the schools for selling promises of greener professional pastures. Some schools are, perhaps, taking head of this criticism, and putting a new spin on this despair.

For most law students, the end goal is to work as an attorney. One of the great ironies of a legal education is that law schools don't actually teach students how to practice law. First year students are assailed with the Socratic Method and promises that a legal education will teach them how to "think like lawyers". Law students not wrung out by the end of the first year can mostly expect to graduate with a well-honed ability to launch a good argument. This is oversimplified, of course, but the reality is that few law students-intelligent and accomplished though they may be-are really prepared to work as lawyers.

As a perhaps long-overdue salve, some law schools are breaking with draconian tradition, and starting to teach students (gasp) practical skills. NYU is teaching classes on skills in negotiation, counseling and fact investigation. Harvard has instituted a "problem-solving" class for 1Ls and Stanford is considering making graduation conditional on a 40-hour internship in the real world of law. Schools are recognizing the fact that only 25% of last year's graduates were hired at big firms. With those kind of corporate cutbacks, there seems to be less time and money for training in novice attorneys.

Fortunately, these kinds of changes can only improve the quality of legal practitioners and the quality of service provided to the public. A silver lining, if you will, in an otherwise tough climate for law grads.

Labels:

posted by at

Previous Posts
Archives
Admission Essay  |  Personal Statement  |  Letter of Recommendation  |  Scholarship Essay
© Admissions Essays, Inc. 2013. All Rights Reserved. Terms & Conditions  |  Privacy Policy  |  Site Map