History of American Legal Education. 2 credits

Catalog description

How should lawyers be trained to become lawyers? Should new lawyers be trained primarily by practicing lawyers? As undergraduates? Or should there be law schools as part of a separate three-year training after college? Should students learn primarily how to practice law or how to “think like a lawyer?” From the 17th to the 21st century, American lawyers have been trained in an astonishing variety of ways. This course will study how lawyers became lawyers over the centuries and up until the present. The training of lawyers is particularly important given the central role of law and lawyers in American social, political, and economic life. Particular attention will be paid to the creation of the American law school in the 19th century, to the codification movement of the 19th century, to comparative ways of training lawyers around the world, and to modern controversies over law school admissions, how students pay for law school, and entrance requirements to join the profession.Offered by Law. May not be repeated for credit.