President Barack Obama's recent remarks about whether law school should be two years (instead of the usual three) sparked a lot of discussion within the legal academy. Among the thoughtful commentaries by law deans is one by Dean Rachel Van Cleave of Golden Gate University School of Law. Dean Van Cleave's essay points out that the central question is not the length of law school, but instead the more important question to consider is "how should modern legal education instill essential values and ensure excellent training at a reasonable cost?"
The model I envision for legal education and the legal profession changes the nature of the question about whether law school should be two or three years. There is no question that we live in a society that values justice and democracy, and the role of lawyers and judges who uphold these principles, as it values health and well-being (and the doctors and researchers who serve these ends). Each of these fields is foundational and contributes to the private and public good. The time is ripe to match our deep philosophical commitment to a just society with our economic investment. There is no one school, government program, or firm that may solve the challenges legal education and the profession face. However, the ABA Task Force on Legal Education, like the more recently established ABA Legal Access Job Corps Task Force embrace the type of coalition building that has the promise to transform legal education and the legal profession. I believe that working together we can reinvent legal education and the profession itself in ways that enhance our collective work and goals.
As we seek such solutions on the business side to ensure students have the depth of skills, knowledge and values for practice, it is also worth reminding ourselves of what lawyers contribute to society that justifies such wide-scale investment. Our profession, like the medical profession, is a service profession. The legal profession serves clients, but also our system of justice and a democratic society. Rabindranath Tagore wrote, "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold; service was joy." By investing in our profession we realize its value and our values.
You can find the full text of Dean Van Cleave's essay here.