Professional Skills and Values in Legal Education - Institute for Law ...
Professional Skills and Values in Legal Education - Institute for Law ...
Professional Skills and Values in Legal Education - Institute for Law ...
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2009] Teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Professional</strong> <strong>Skills</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Law</strong> School<br />
consonant with the fundamental purposes of the<br />
legal profession. 42<br />
D. The Best Practices Project (2007)<br />
519<br />
The Best Practices Project was <strong>in</strong>itiated by the Cl<strong>in</strong>ical <strong>Legal</strong><br />
<strong>Education</strong> Association <strong>in</strong> 2001 <strong>and</strong> developed collaboratively over six<br />
years. 43 The Project was motivated <strong>in</strong> part by concerns that law schools<br />
were not fully committed to prepar<strong>in</strong>g students to enter the practice of<br />
law. 44 More specifically, many law school graduates lack a commitment<br />
to provid<strong>in</strong>g access to justice <strong>for</strong> low <strong>and</strong> middle <strong>in</strong>come people, are not<br />
sufficiently competent to per<strong>for</strong>m adequate services to clients, <strong>and</strong> act<br />
unprofessionally.45<br />
The Best Practices Project urged law schools to commit to<br />
"prepar<strong>in</strong>g ... students to practice law effectively <strong>and</strong> responsibly <strong>in</strong> the<br />
contexts they are likely to encounter as new lawyers."46 The Project sets<br />
out six attributes of effective, responsible lawyers: (1) self reflection <strong>and</strong><br />
lifelong learn<strong>in</strong>g skills; (2) <strong>in</strong>tellectual <strong>and</strong> analytical skills, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />
critical th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> practical judgment; (3) core knowledge of legal<br />
doctr<strong>in</strong>e; (4) core underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g of the law, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the ability to apply<br />
it <strong>in</strong> new situations; (5) adequate professional skills, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />
communication, advocacy, management, <strong>and</strong> cooperative skills; <strong>and</strong> (6)<br />
professionalism, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g a commitment to justice, respect <strong>for</strong> the rule<br />
of law, honor, <strong>in</strong>tegrity, fair play, truthfulness, c<strong>and</strong>or, <strong>and</strong> sensitivity to<br />
diverse clients <strong>and</strong> colleagues. 47<br />
To achieve the aim of prepar<strong>in</strong>g competent, responsible lawyers, the<br />
Best Practices Project made four recommendations <strong>for</strong> law school<br />
programs of <strong>in</strong>struction. First, a law school should seek to achieve<br />
congruence by articulat<strong>in</strong>g its mission, identify<strong>in</strong>g learn<strong>in</strong>g outcomes<br />
that are consistent with the mission, design<strong>in</strong>g curricula to produce the<br />
learn<strong>in</strong>g outcomes, <strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong>mulat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>dividual course objectives<br />
<strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>med by the mission, outcomes, <strong>and</strong> curricula. 48 Second, law schools<br />
should organize their programs progressively to develop students'<br />
knowledge, skills, <strong>and</strong> values through educational experiences that are<br />
42 ld. at 194.<br />
43 BEST PRACTICES PROJECT, supra note 8, at ix.<br />
44 ld. at 16-18. Additional motivations <strong>in</strong>cluded that the licens<strong>in</strong>g process <strong>for</strong> new<br />
lawyers was not protect<strong>in</strong>g the public, that law schools were not fully committed to<br />
prepar<strong>in</strong>g students <strong>for</strong> the bar exam, <strong>and</strong> that law schools did not attend sufficiently to the<br />
well-be<strong>in</strong>g of law students. ld. at 11-15, 29-37.<br />
4S ld. at 24-29.<br />
46 ld. at 39.<br />
47 ld. at 65-91.<br />
48 ld. at 93-94.