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The Future of Law in Admissionsto the California State Barby Richard A. FrankelThe Board of Trustees ofthe State Bar of Californiacharged the Task Force onAdmissions RegulationReform with examining whetherthe State Bar of California shoulddevelop a regulatory requirementfor a pre-admission practical skillstraining program and, if so, proposingsuch a program for submissionto the Supreme Court.Most American law schools todayfollow the traditional Langdellianmodel of legal education, emphasizingdoctrinal study as the basis forteaching students the art of “thinkinglike a lawyer.” Over the courseof more than a century since thismodel of legal education took rootaround the country, law schoolshave gradually incorporated clinicalexperience and practical skillstraining into their core curriculum.The importance of providingnew lawyers with opportunitiesto develop practical skills has beendriven, in large part, by the rapidlychanging landscape of the legal profession.Due to the economic climateand client demands fortrained and sophisticated practitionersfresh out of law school,fewer and fewer opportunities areavailable for new lawyers to gainstructured practical skills trainingearly in their careers. Many newlawyers, in fact, are now enteringthe profession as solo practitioners,without the solid practical skillsfoundation necessary to representclients in a competent manner andwith nowhere to turn to build thatfoundation.From the standpoint of regulatorypolicy, this situation presentsserious issues of public protectionthat cannot be ignored. The recordthat we have compiled and examinedconfirms the importance andurgency of a thoughtful policy response.Following a series of hearingsduring which the Task Force tooktestimony from many practitioners,legal academics, judges, clients, andmembers of the public at large, andbased on a thorough review by theTask Force of the literature on thetopic of practical skills training fornew lawyers (an extensive body ofwork going back decades that hasrepeatedly addressed thesame set of questions consideredhere, and thathas time and againconfirmed the need for reform), wenow answer the charge given to usin the affirmative. In our view, anew set of practical skills requirementsfocusing on competency andprofessionalism should be adoptedin California in order to better preparenew lawyers for successfultransition into law practice, andmany of these new requirementsought to take effect pre-admission,prior to the granting of a law license.The draft Task Force recommendationsare:• Pre-admission: A practical skillstraining requirement fulfilled priorto admission to practice. Therewould be two routes for fulfillmentof this pre-admission practical skillsrequirement: either in law school,where 15 units of course work followingthe first year of law schoolmust be dedicated to developingpractical skills and serving clients,or, alternatively, employment in a8MAY 2013