A few days ago, we posted a story about the relative shortage of practical legal education opportunities at many U.S. law schools, as well as the according need for change. In that article, I cited an op-ed in the Daily Texan written by three University of Texas Law students on how UT Law does not currently offer a mandatory brief writing course for first years. A few other outlets--including the Legal Writing Prof Blog--picked up the story. Well, UT Law has chosen to respond to the articles. Specifically, Wayne Schiess, director of the Legal Writing program at UT Law, said in a statement to the Legal Writing Prof Blog:It is true that the University of Texas School of Law has a first-year legal-writing curriculum without brief writing. When the law school administration removed credits from the required course five years ago, brief writing was lost. Needless to say, the legal-writing faculty thought it was a mistake. So we’ve been teaching a brief-writing elective that only some 1Ls can get into. We're optimistic that brief writing will return to the required first-year curriculum. Indeed, a proposal to do that comes before the faculty this week.
We applaud the changes the school is making. However, I want to emphasize that the article was not meant to single UT Law out. It is obviously a fine institution that provides its students with fantastic opportunities (so, Hook 'em Horns!). And thus, despite the intimations of numerous posters on message boards around the internet, I do not have a problem with UT Law as an academic institution; I do have a problem, however, with the law school system as a whole. If one takes a full glance at the article I wrote, as well as the February 2009 article it cited, one will see that many of us on this blog believe that we need substantial reform in the current law school model because it is simply failing students.
UT law is a good law school, but as a student here, I have to say that I have been generally displeased with my choice. I feel like I don't konw very much about how to practice and write.
ReplyDeleteWell put, Nima. I'd encourage our readers to scan through our Blog Archive for more posts discussing these very important issues. There's an abundance of them--particularly from the very beginning of our blogging existence.
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ReplyDeleteThis sucks. Those students should be ashamed of themselves for writing such vitrol about UT law
ReplyDeleteI learned how to write in high school. I'm learning practical legal skills (that I won't use for 5 years) in extra curriculars like mock trial, moot court, and internships. I'm getting a great legal education at UT Law and those 1Ls suck.
ReplyDeleteNo...you are stupid. Those students have every right to be upset with getting left out of a brief writing course. They pay good money to get a "Legal" education. Law school has unfortunately become a glorified liberal arts masters program that teaches nothing but prestige whoring, self entitlement and theory. GET A CLUE and stop buying into the ridiculous machine.
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