Practical Wisdom: Reimagining Legal Education

University of St. Thomas Law Journal, Dec 2012

By Daisy Hurst Floyd, Published on 02/11/14

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Practical Wisdom: Reimagining Legal Education

Bluebook Citation Daisy Hurst Floyd, Practical Wisdom: Reimagining Legal Education Practical Wisdom: Reimagining Legal Education Daisy Hurst Floyd - Article 5 ARTICLE PRACTICAL WISDOM: REIMAGINING LEGAL EDUCATION DAISY HURST FLOYD* INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND We are at a moment of both crisis and opportunity in American legal education. Recent public criticism of what we do and how we do it has generated heated debate. Justifiable concerns about the high cost of a legal education, a difficult job market for recent graduates in the midst of unmet needs for legal services, the influence of rankings, the proliferation of law schools, and a shrinking applicant pool call into question both the purpose and value of legal education.1 It is a time that calls for innovation, creativity, and rethinking legal education’s goals and methods. It is a time to reimagine the education our students receive. This symposium, which focuses on identity formation as a primary purpose of law school and urges * Daisy Hurst Floyd is University Professor of Law and Ethical Formation at Mercer University School of Law. This work was supported by a grant from Mercer University School of Law. I am grateful to Mercer Dean Gary Simson for his support and to the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and the University of St. Thomas Law Journal for supporting work on ethical formation. 1. See generally David Segal, Is Law School a Losing Game?, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 8, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0; David Segal, What They Don’t Teach Law Students: Lawyering, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 19, 2011, http://www.ny times.com/2011/11/20/business/after-law-school-associates-learn-to-be-lawyers.html?pagewanted =all; David Segal, For Law Schools, A Price to Play the ABA’s Way, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 17, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/business/for-law-schools-a-price-to-play-the-abas-way.html? pagewanted=all; Chris Mondics, Villanova Law Censured by ABA Over Admissions-Data Fraud, But Retains Accreditation, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, Aug. 16, 2011 , http://articles.philly.com/ 2011-08-16/business/29892664_1_law-school-american-bar-association-lsat-scores; Ameet Sachdev, U of I Law School Falls 12 Spots, to No. 35, in U.S. News and World Report List: Lower Ranking Related to Admissions Scandal Last Fall, CHI. TRIB., March 15, 2012, http://articles. chicagotribune.com/2012-03-15/business/ct-biz-0315-law-rankings-20120315_1_median-gpa-me dian-lsat-score-admissions-scandal; David Segal, Law Students Lose the Grant Game as Schools Win, N.Y. TIMES, April 30, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/business/law-schoolgrants.html?pagewanted=all; Katherine Mangan, Lawsuits Over Job-Placement Rates Threaten 20 More Law Schools, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., March 14, 2012 , http://chronicle.com/article/Law suits-Over-Job-Placement/131163/ (for some of the recent negative attention to law schools in the popular press). legal educators to think empirically about ways to meet that purpose, is a positive step toward reaching that goal.2 We can reimagine legal education by taking seriously the ethical formation of our students. A focus on ethical formation requires us to consider not just what lawyers should know and what they should do, but also who they should be in order to live out the best ideals of the profession. It requires us to envision our graduates as the lawyers they will be. It demands that we think about the multiple capacities we want our graduates to use in the service of their clients and their profession. This article proposes that we conceive of the purpose of ethical formation as developing lawyers who can exercise practical wisdom. Practical wisdom is an ancient concept, derived from Aristotle, which has continuing resonance for modern life and particularly for modern professional life. To make the case that we need lawyers with practical wisdom, I will start by imagining our students as they will be some years from now. Please consider with me three former law students—Nick, Daphne, and Maria— who are now experienced lawyers. We meet each of them at a particular moment of professional practice, in which they are called upon to act out of their professional knowledge, education, and experience. Moments of Professional Practice: Three Lawyers 1. Nick Nick has been a lawyer for just over six years, practicing as an associate in a mid-sized law firm. The firm will be deciding very soon whether he will be invited to partnership. Nick’s practice focuses on transactional matters. He has recently been representing one of the firm’s regular clients, the owner of a large manufacturing facility, in negotiating an agreement with an import company for the regular purchase of materials. The negotiations developed an impasse over a particular provision that the other party insists on putting into the contract. The provision is an escape clause from the contract in the event that natural disaste (...truncated)


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Daisy Hurst Floyd. Practical Wisdom: Reimagining Legal Education, University of St. Thomas Law Journal, 2012, Volume 10, Issue 1,