Prof. Judith Wegner, who teaches in the Community Development Law Clinic, has a new article published in the Journal of Dispute Resolution entitled, "Cornerstones, Curb Cuts and Legal Education Reform," which is available for free download.
It opens as follows:
The University of Missouri School of Law has long been
a leader in American legal education. Years ago, it was a bellwether for
legal education reform when it introduced a sustained focus on preparing
students to understand dispute resolution, shaping its curriculum accordingly. Its
faculty scholars are renowned for their writings on important dispute resolution
topics. It is my hope that this Symposium will assist others in learning from the
University of Missouri’s deep perspective on how to overcome barriers that keep law
schools from doing all they might otherwise do in preparing law students for
real-world practice. Special thanks are due to Professor John Lande for his efforts
in assembling distinguished symposium contributors who have given such deep
thought to the topic of legal educational reform.
This essay seeks to contribute to this dialogue by
offering both theoretical and practical observations about legal education reform.
This approach reflects the judgment that current efforts to improve legal
education will only get so far unless underlying impediments to change that are often
invisible become better understood. The essay provides legal educators with theoretical
insights from the design, organizational behavior, education, and psychology
literature in order to help that process along. Theoretical insights can be hard
to apply in the abstract, however. The essay therefore also offers practical
recommendations about both small and large actions that might be taken by faculty
members, law schools, and national legal education organizations
in order to facilitate needed change.
Read the rest of this groundbreaking essay by one of the co-authors of the Carnegie Report.
Posted by Judith Welch Wegner on Fri. June 13, 2014 4:49 PM
Categories:
Community Development Law Clinic, Scholarship