{"id":618,"date":"2013-10-08T09:35:57","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T13:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/?p=618"},"modified":"2014-03-12T11:41:49","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T15:41:49","slug":"making-the-grade-considering-the-aba-task-force-recommendations-for-legal-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/10\/08\/making-the-grade-considering-the-aba-task-force-recommendations-for-legal-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the Grade: Considering the ABA Task Force Recommendations for Legal Education"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/10\/08\/making-the-grade-considering-the-aba-task-force-recommendations-for-legal-education\/spiralboundreport\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-619\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-619\" title=\"spiralboundreport\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2013\/10\/spiralboundreport.jpg?resize=288%2C191\" alt=\"\" width=\"288\" height=\"191\" \/><\/a>\u201cThere is almost universal agreement that the current system is broken,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Business\/legal-education-flaws-invite-radical-solutions\/story?id=18470088\">said Thomas W. Lyons III, ABA Task Force member<\/a>, at an ABA Task Force meeting in Dallas earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>In August, the American Bar Association\u2019s Task Force released its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/content\/dam\/aba\/administrative\/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar\/council_reports_and_resolutions\/august_2013_open_session\/2013_august_aba_task_force_working_paper.authcheckdam.pdf\">final report<\/a> in a series of working papers on the Future of Legal Education. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/groups\/professional_responsibility\/taskforceonthefuturelegaleducation.html\">Task Force<\/a>, which was commissioned in July 2012, sought to highlight the problems that the nation\u2019s law schools and the American legal profession are faced with today\u2014rising tuitions, staggering student debt, a decreasing pool of law school applicants and limited job opportunities for graduates\u2014and to articulate the facts that will help build a consensus for change, test hypotheses, and scrutinize recommendations.\u00a0 The resulting working paper states that it will serve as \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/content\/dam\/aba\/administrative\/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar\/council_reports_and_resolutions\/august_2013_open_session\/2013_august_aba_task_force_working_paper.authcheckdam.pdf#page=3\">a field manual for people of good faith who wish to improve legal education as a public and private good<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0In determining recommendations for reshaping legal education, the ABA\u2019s Task Force identified six \u201cfundamental and widely shared values\u201d for law schools and state bar associations to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Meet society\u2019s needs to deliver legal education in the United States;<\/li>\n<li>Decentralize access for those who want to obtain a legal education;<\/li>\n<li>Minimize obstacles for those who wish to build a career in the legal profession;<\/li>\n<li>Provide appropriate legal education programs for public good;<\/li>\n<li>Provide appropriate legal education\u00a0 for private good; and<\/li>\n<li>Consider other ways of providing public good, with the understanding that law schools are not the sole providers of legal education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The report emphasized the urgent need for change in our nation\u2019s legal education.\u00a0 As James B. Kobak, Jr., a Task Force member, commented, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/09\/20\/education\/task-force-backs-changes-in-legal-education-system.html\">The overall idea [of this report] was to free law schools to be more innovative and get away from the one-size-fits-all model.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As reported in a recent <em>New York Times<\/em> article by Task Force Chairman Randall T. Shepard, the most controversial topics amongst task force members pertained to financing legal education and setting standards for accreditation. Shepard said that \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/09\/20\/education\/task-force-backs-changes-in-legal-education-system.html?_r=0\">There were very prickly long discussions about whether the language in the report accurately describes the situation.\u00a0 [\u2026] there was a real disagreement [\u2026] on the list of items in the accreditation standards that we thought should be liberalized or eliminated.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The use of nonlawyer practitioners, however, sparked little controversy, Shepard reported.\u00a0 Task Force members \u201cwere so impressed by <a href=\"http:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2196607\">Washington State\u2019s experiment with limited-license legal technicians<\/a>, trained and licensed to handle certain civil legal matters.\u00a0 That program\u2019s success has led to an expansion to practitioners for domestic relations, an area in which many of those who come to court are now unrepresented.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among the Task Force\u2019s key recommendations were increased collaboration, better assessment of existing programs, incentives for innovation, a revitalized faculty culture, the acceptance of risk-taking, flexibility, and diversity of purpose.\u00a0 The report is still in draft form; it will be circulated for comment and then discussed at the ABA\u2019s 2013 meeting.\u00a0 If the report is accepted, it will serve as a set of recommendations rather than a binding set of rules for law schools and state bar associations.<\/p>\n<p>What is your reaction to the Task Force\u2019s recommendations?\u00a0 Let us know at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hlscasestudies@law.harvard.edu\/\">hlscasestudies@law.harvard.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What is your school doing to enhance legal education? The Harvard Law School Case Studies Program is conducting a survey of how law school professors and law firms are using experiential teaching methods and materials to enhance legal education.\u00a0 To take part in the survey and receive survey results, please email\u00a0 <a href=\"mailto:lbrem@law.harvard.edu\">hlscasestudies@law.harvard.edu<\/a> and use the subject line:\u00a0 Survey.<\/p>\n<p>Useful links:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/\">www.americanbar.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/groups\/professional_responsibility\/taskforceonthefuturelegaleducation.html\">www.americanbar.org\/groups\/professional_responsibility\/taskforceonthefuturelegaleducation.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThere is almost universal agreement that the current system is broken,\u201d said Thomas W. Lyons III, ABA Task Force member, at an ABA Task Force meeting in Dallas earlier this year. In August, the American Bar Association\u2019s Task Force released &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/10\/08\/making-the-grade-considering-the-aba-task-force-recommendations-for-legal-education\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6207,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88574],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news-and-debate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4CR8M-9Y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":979,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2015\/06\/09\/new-vice-dean-to-develop-experiential-learning-at-hls\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":0},"title":"New Vice Dean to Develop Experiential Learning at HLS","author":"Amanda Reilly","date":"June 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dan Nagin, Clinical Professor of Law and director of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center, will serve as Harvard Law School\u2019s first Vice Dean for Experiential and Clinical Programs. In this position, Nagin will work to build the school\u2019s experiential offerings and foster new opportunities for hands-on learning. Nagin, who joined\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Daniel Nagin, Clinical Professor of Law","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2015\/06\/Dan-Nagin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":659,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/12\/03\/for-profit-law-schools-impacting-the-future-of-legal-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":1},"title":"For-Profit Law Schools:  Impacting the Future of Legal Education","author":"Amanda Reilly","date":"December 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The InfiLaw System, a for-profit company that owns several law schools and professional development firms, is challenging the status quo in legal education in a way similar to for-profit education companies such as University of Phoenix, Strayer, and DeVry. 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Here\u2019s what they say are the warning signs: Disparities in Supply and Demand: Rutgers University School of Law-Newark Dean John J. Farmer, Jr. notes, \u201cNearly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Legal News and Debate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Legal News and Debate","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/legal-news-and-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2013\/06\/reading-glasses-57288_640-500x375.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1034,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2015\/10\/13\/sexual-assault-on-campus-the-problem-and-the-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":3},"title":"Sexual Assault on Campus: The Problem and the Policy","author":"","date":"October 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Women have outnumbered men at U.S. colleges since the 1990s; unfortunately they also outnumber men in another unsettling statistic. An astonishing one in four undergraduate college women are sexually assaulted during their college career, as reported by the latest survey on sexual assault conducted at 27 university campuses, including Harvard\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1200,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2017\/03\/16\/using-case-study-method-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":4},"title":"Why and How: Using the Case Study Method in the Law Classroom","author":"Lisa Brem","date":"March 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo by: Brooks Kraft Post by: Jackie Kim and Lisa Brem Why should legal educators use case studies and other experiential teaching methods, such as role plays and simulations, in their classes?\u00a0 Hasn\u2019t the Langdell method served legal education well these last 140 years?\u00a0 Certainly creating and using experiential materials\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"person walking by langdell","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2017\/03\/2237550-R6-019-8-1024x659.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2017\/03\/2237550-R6-019-8-1024x659.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2017\/03\/2237550-R6-019-8-1024x659.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":492,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/07\/16\/summer-reading-legal-educations-9-big-ideas-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":5},"title":"Summer Reading: Legal Education\u2019s 9 Big Ideas, Part 2","author":"Elizabeth Moroney","date":"July 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Four Cs Last week we shared solutions to the crisis in legal education, drawn from the disciplines of science and technology.\u00a0 Particular schools have piloted other new programs for legal education, and these experiential \u201cinnovations\u201d have proven track records in other contexts. 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