Law’s not hard; it’s just hard to get into: a study of alternative entry students to law school

Widening access to higher education is a challenge currently under discussion in Australia and the United Kingdom. The increasing number of alternative entry programs offered by universities has made tertiary study, including law study, more accessible. One concern with widening access to legal education is the ability of students entering law school through means other than very high academic scores to undertake a law degree successfully. Students who enter law school are generally referred to as “high achievers”, having qualified through an admission policy based on competitive rankings. The implementation of equitable access programs in some Australian universities has resulted in a number of places being made available to final year high school students who meet the eligibility criteria. Lowering the entry requirements to some courses provides opportunities for students whose circumstances have affected their ability to attain competitive ranking scores. The Principals’ Recommendation Scheme (PRS) is one of these programs. The University of Technology Sydney in New South Wales, Australia commenced the PRS in 2012. UTS:Law was one of the first Faculties to develop a strategy to support these students. The Faculty is committed to resourcing all students in their study and, as a result, is engaged in the ongoing evaluation of the academic and co-curricular programs provided to students. This paper explains the implementation of the PRS and the relevant support infrastructure available to students. It also considers the research into student retention and academic success and makes a preliminary assessment that, to date, the PRS students are succeeding in the transition from secondary education to law school, and that the existing infrastructure is accommodating the needs of these students. The PRS is an alternative entry scheme that provides a model for consideration by other law schools, committed to widening access to legal education.     

Learning to be A Peacemaking Lawyer: Law Student Perspectives on Building Peacemaking into Law School Curricula,Building Paths to Practice for New Lawyers,and Interdisciplinary Training

From our perspectives as students, we reflect on the teachings of Lawyer as Peacemaker, a Winter 2015 course taught at UCLA School of Law — the school's course devoted to peacemaking lawyering. Utilizing our newfound peacemaking worldview, we share our collective reactions to the Lawyer as Peacemaker course and the ten articles in the Family Court Review Special Issue on Peacemaking for Divorcing Families. We then advocate for integrating peacemaking into law school curricula and experiential learning offerings and make recommendations on how law schools today can prepare students to practice peace.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• This article is a collaborative work product of three students who come from an array of work experience, backgrounds and interests and from their newly founded peacemaking worldview, the three students collaboratively analyzed ideas presented in the Lawyer as Peacemaker course and the articles from this issue.
• The peacemaking mediation allows the parties more control over their legal disputes and allows the control of the costs that come with litigation.
• Peacemaking involves a holistic and collaborative method, involving mental health professionals to financial advisors as well as legal professionals.
• However, peacemaking skill courses are not readily available to many law students while studying in law school.
• This valuable asset should be made available more extensively to law students interested in family law.

     

Marginalization,reproduction and assaults against teachers: Ideas on the contradictions of ideological social control

Summary We have analyzed school stratification and delinquent behavior by demonstrating that the connection between the two can be explained more completely by reference to the nature and functioning of American capitalism. By way of a thorough analysis of the reproduction forces at work today in American capitalism, as well as the way consciousness is formed through the satisfaction and fulfillment of species needs and powers, our investigation linked delinquent behavior (assaults against teachers) and school stratification with the social system of which they are embedded. Concentrating initially on the structural forces at work within the labor market, we were able to uncover the foundations which mold the social relations of production. We then turned our investigation to the school, revealing how the underlying function of secondary education today is the reproduction of the social relations of production. With a thorough understanding of these two interrelated phenomena, we were then able to explain why minority students attack secondary school teachers at a higher rate than other students. Specifically, it is because of thecontradiction between the creation of a personality possessing autonomous and independent behavior traits, with emphasis on violent behavior patterns as a means of solving interpersonal problems (marginalization), and the austere authoritarian and control mechanisms of the school (reproduction).I wish to thank Nancy Gilliland for helpful comments and criticism on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Rite of passage: The impact of teaching methods on first year law students

Abstract

SEVERAL RECENT articles suggest that the undergraduate law program harms students in many ways. What we do not know, however, is the cause of these harms. More specifically, we do not know the way in which law students are impacted by current teaching and methods. This is the first empirical research that looks at this specific question.

In 2005 I conducted doctoral research on recent law graduates about both their understanding of undergraduate law school teaching practices and more importantly, the impact of these practices on them personally. The result of the research confirms recent literature and provides new and important information about the extent to which teaching methods harm students.

Specifically, the research suggests that the two main teaching methods used in first year law school, the case method and the lecture method, are not entirely effective or efficient for student learning; the law school curriculum is based on an epistemology of objectivism that makes learning law difficult and the first year law school examinations impact students in several negative ways. This research suggests that the combination of first year teaching practices causes many students to feel isolated, disoriented, disengaged, and ultimately resigned to having no control. This article is a summary of my doctoral research.     

Educational Debt and Law Student Failure to Enter Public Service Careers: Bringing Empirical Data to Bear

It is frequently suggested that law school debt is preventing new law school graduates from entering public service careers. The basis for this contention is largely anecdotal, however. This study puts the presumption to empirical scrutiny. Aggregate data from law schools and individual-level data from law students both point to the same conclusion: law students may indeed be competing in a money chase, but it is not because of their indebtedness. Private firms with prestige and high salaries are appealing to many students regardless of their debt burden. And government and public interest jobs may be in too short supply to meet the demand of non-elite students who are essentially closed out of the high-paying jobs in larger firms. The biggest barrier between these students and public service jobs may be the lack of supply of these jobs, not the lack of demand for them.     

The law commission and judicial law reform*

This article explores ways in which mooting can provide high school students with insight into life as a law student. In gaining high school students’ insights on their early exposure to a legal research skills environment involving oral argumentation exercises, the authors argue that law schools can incorporate experiential learning pedagogies into student recruitment efforts to ensure that both law school and prospective student are better prepared for each other during the delivery and study of law at university level.     

Legal education and early career mentoring: mid-career attorneys' pro bono commitment

Much extant research suggests that students who enter law school highly enthusiastic about public interest law and pro bono work often take mainstream jobs with minimal participation in pro bono activities. Frequently, these studies place some of the blame on law schools. This study, however, suggests that law schools, as well as mentors in first post-graduation jobs, might positively affect attorneys' level of commitment to pro bono work. This longitudinal study is unique in that it includes measures of students' attitudes during law school and in mid-career. It raises the possibility that attorneys whose level of commitment to pro bono work did not decrease since law school were substantially influenced by their law school training and early career mentors. Although some students will leave law school with less dedication to public interest law and pro bono work, this study offers hope that, through legal education and mentorship, other students will maintain their strong commitment to helping poor clients.     

The Impact of Legal Education: An In-Depth Examination of Career-relevant Interests, Attitudes, and Personality Traits Among First-Year Law Students

This article examines in detail patterns of change in career-relevant interests, attitudes, and personality characteristics among first-year students in one law school. The data presented suggest that a single entering law school class can be viewed as a varied group in terms of career plans and potential behavioral styles. Moreover, immersion in the law school environment may accentuate this initial variability. Although some studies have suggested that, overall, first-year law students experience a drop in law interests, including interests in altruistic and "socially conscious" career activities, the methods of analysis used in this study suggest alternative interpretations of some aspects of such changes. In addition, the author believes these methods shed greater light on the overall process of professional development in law school.     

Moonlighting in Law School: A Multischool Study of Part-Time Employment of Full-Time Students

The part-time employment of full-time law students is a significant aspect of contemporary legal education. Successful socialization and training in law are presumed to require the undivided time, effort, and commitment of students. Part-time employment, therefore, is commonly believed to siphon those scarce personal resources away from the central task of legal education. This multi-school study of a sample of 1,370 law students attempted to determine the significant ways in which employed students were differentiated from nonemployed classmates in finances, attitudes, and uses of time, and whether type of law school and student's year in school had effects on patterns of student employment.
The incidence of part-time employment, while strongly related to personal financial resources, was found to be equally influenced by the type of school attended and year in school. While those settings varied substantially in the degree of permissiveness toward student part-time employment, students employed part time could not be distinguished statistically from their nonemployed classmates in terms of levels of involvement in law school or their levels of morale. Both temporal and attitudinal disengagement from law school were found to be commonplace among upper-class students in all school settings, but part-time employment did not appear to contribute to it uniquely.     

肖志军事件的法学追询——公私法关系论题的—个引子

多数学者认为肖志军拒签事件属于极端个案,不能说明法制不健全。其实,该案反映出我们的制度设计存在严重的问题,其要害在于公法规则在医患双方关系中不适当地设定了患者家属的主体地位与决定权。这种规定在理论上造成逻辑悖谬,在实践中不仅不必要,而且可能造成与立法预期相反的效果。在特定条件之下,取消患者家属的决定权,解除对医院紧急救治行为的强制禁止,则类似问题可迎刃而解。肖志军事件中所出现的问题其实是国家出于政策管制的需要而不适当地介入私法关系所导致的后果,它反映出我国公私法关系理论亟待深入研究。     

Competition policy in the United States and the United Kingdom ‐ A look at underlying forces*

Summer schools in law are a common feature of Irish legal education today. Originating in the US, summer schools are now an international phenomenon. In 2005, the eLaw Summer Institute (or ELSI), was established at University College Cork as a four-week international summer school. In this article, we reflect on the design and development of ELSI, with reference to three key aspects of this summer school. First, we address issues arising from the intensive teaching aspect of ELSI, including the use of technology as part of a blended learning experience. Second, we explore the challenges posed by the international audience in ELSI. Lastly, we critically examine the comparative elements of the school in terms of curriculum design and delivery of the programme. Our analysis builds upon existing literature in the areas of curriculum design and delivery, intensive teaching, the international classroom and comparative legal studies; and is informed by empirical data in the form of anonymous student questionnaires. The aim of the article is to engage with others involved in summer programmes, to share our experiences and critical analysis and to provide an insight for those not involved in summer school programmes into the challenges and the rewards for students, staff and the institutions involved.     

宏观、微观经济法理论及体系完善

随着我国社会主义市场经济体制改革的不断深入,加入WTO后我国政府职能的转变,在新的历史条件下,我国经济法理论需要新的发展。需要从经济法调整宏观经济关系和微观经济关系着手,建立宏观、微观经济法的理论及体系。     

Mapping the effects of Brexit on legal education in Wales: proposals for addressing students’ concerns

ABSTRACT

Whilst the future for UK–EU relations remains to be realised, Brexit will have consequences for legal education. However, to date, neither the UK nor Welsh Governments have sufficiently addressed what those consequences will be for higher education. This paper, which documents the results of 336 student questionnaires received from law students surveyed from every law school in Wales, evidences that learners have already started to decide what they believe Brexit means for them. Amongst the numerous challenges for Welsh law schools is the opinion of current students that Brexit makes Wales a less attractive place for overseas students and lecturers, both EU and other internationals, to study and work. Meanwhile UK students studying in Wales are questioning the relevance of EU law modules, and are viewing aspirational careers within EU institutions as now being “closed doors”. By drawing upon our findings, as well as comparisons with other EU Member States, this paper proposes six areas where urgent collaboration between governments and universities is needed. Failing to address the concerns identified by this research has the potential to further threaten the internationalised education model that UK students benefit from by studying law at Welsh universities.     

Lawyers,law schools and social change – defining the challenges of academic legal education in the late modernity

This article argues that due to their position and task in society, legal professionals are confronted with specific difficulties connected to contemporary circumstances. To outline these circumstances, this article draws on the work of Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Bauman and places both theories within the late modernity. Lawyers need to be able to deal with the difficulties late modernity poses and are therefore in need of appropriate knowledge and skills. Law schools should offer relevant schooling so that their students are equipped to deal with the difficulties confronting them in late modernity’s society. This article offers a first inquiry into the challenges that lawyers currently face, alongside anticipating alteration of academic law school programs by clarifying the challenges caused by two societal processes in late modernity, namely (1) the increase of technological possibilities and, simultaneously, the demystification of science; and (2) globalization. These processes lead to a complex society ruled by uncertainty that faces the challenge of allocating responsibility. In addition, some initial suggestions are presented regarding the conceivable adjustments to academic legal education in late modernity.     

Safe or sorry? Rights,responsibilities and retribution—the new three Rs of education in New Zealand?

A school is a microcosm of society and thus is subject to the problems existing within society generally. The rights and responsibilities of persons outside the school gates apply within the school also. The school environment is unique in that not only is a young person compelled to attend but he or she must spend a great deal of each day within the school's jurisdiction. May it then be argued that there is an enhanced responsibility of schools towards the emotional and physical welfare of their students in relation to matters within their control? This article will examine whether a New Zealand public school has a responsibility that extends further than a moral duty for the safety of its students. Particularly it will consider a school's potential liability in respect of the various forms of student‐to‐student bullying and harassment. It examines the potential for an action against a school under human rights legislation, at common law, and in criminal law.     

Do We Need Unicorns When We Have Law?

Abstract.  Theoretical justifications of human rights have been troubled by many criticisms and objections. It has been objected that the source of human rights is unclear as is the meaning attached to human rights. Yet today many human rights have been adopted in positive law. Law students today need to learn about this positive law of human rights and may consider that those debates in human rights theory are pointless. This article examines the extent to which the positive law of human rights answers these questions satisfactorily. It concludes that positive law offers several important answers to these criticisms, but suggests they cannot replace the need for a normative justification. The article concludes that approaches which integrate theory and positive law are fruitful avenues of inquiry.     

Do Rankings Matter? The Effects of U.S. News & World Report Rankings on the Admissions Process of Law Schools

In recent years, there has been a tremendous proliferation of quantitative evaluative social measures in the field of law as well as society generally. One of these measures, the U.S. News & World Report rankings of law schools, has become an almost obsessive concern of the law school community, generating a great deal of speculation about the effects of these rankings on legal education. However, there has been no attempt to systematically ascertain what, if any, effects these rankings have on the decisionmaking of students and schools in the admission process. This article documents some of these effects by conceptualizing rankings as a signal of law school quality, investigating (1) whether students and schools use this signal to make decisions about where to apply and whom to admit, and (2) whether the creation of this signal distorts the phenomenon—law school quality—that it purports to measure. Using data for U.S. law schools from 1996 to 2003, we find that schools' rankings have significant effects on both the decisions of prospective students and the decisions schools make in the admissions process. In addition, we present evidence that the rankings can become a self-fulfilling prophecy for some schools, as the effects of rank described above alter the profile of their student bodies, affecting their future rank. Cumulatively, these findings suggest that the rankings help create rather than simply reflect differences among law schools through the magnification of the small, and statistically random, distinctions produced by the measurement apparatus.     

The right of the child to be heard in education litigation: an analysis of the ‘intelligent design’ Pennsylvania case on the separation of Church and State in the public schools

This paper examines a seminal case in US education law regarding the separation of Church and State in the public schools. The issue decided was whether it is constitutional under American law for a school district to mandate reference to ‘intelligent design’ (ID) as an alternative to the theory of evolution whilst instructing students only in the latter. ID theory postulates an unspecified ‘master intelligence’ as being responsible for the origins of life. A Pennsylvania court found that ID was a religious theory and held the school district had officially endorsed ID contrary to constitutional requirements. The issue of children's participation rights was not raised by the parties or the Court and student views were not solicited. The reasons for this failure to allow students to be heard in the judicial proceedings are explored as are the implications for how the notion of children's rights is understood in North America.     

Central Issues in Jurisprudence

Law schools have been criticised as being behind the times in predominantly adhering to the traditional lecture format combined with the casebook method. In so far as these techniques simply transmit prescribed content to students, this comes at the expense of teaching the skill crucial for success in examinations and in legal practice: problem solving. Active teaching and learning techniques seem likely to better foster the development of this skill. However, in an environment where transmission-based lectures are the norm, and students are anxious to absorb content in the (mis)belief that this holds the key to success, would they welcome such active learning or resist it? To assess this, I delivered three lectures to second year undergraduate students in the same cohort of the Law of Contract, each of which used varying degrees of active learning techniques: the first, the maximum amount practicable, the second a combination of active learning techniques and techniques traditionally used in law school lectures, and the third no active learning techniques at all. By asking students to comment on the extent to which they were engaged in the lectures and how the use of time enabled them to learn, to understand contract law, and to develop their own problem-solving skills, I aimed to see how they would react to the different techniques. Supported by the qualitative results of this pilot study, the article suggests that (1) the incorporation of active learning exercises – including those based on problems – into large lectures is perceived by students as beneficial for their learning, and even preferred over passive methods; and (2) in the typical law school environment, law teachers could also consciously mitigate the relentless pressures affecting law students by making classes more conversational, relaxed and entertaining.