Educators Downplay Law Panel Report

Educators at major law schools yesterday downplayed the nationwide impact of a Law School report on curriculum, saying that the increased use of clinical education advocated in the report is already taking place across the country.

Practical Committee

The Michelman Report, prepared by a Law School faculty committee, states that "legal education at Harvard continues to be strongly dominated by doctrinal studies" and emphasizes the need for more practical legal education at the school.

Clinical education includes both practical experience working in the field with real clients and classroom simulations of legal problems.

Although legal educators said the report will have some effect, they stressed that an emphasis on clinical education is not new, adding that there is already a national trend in this direction.

Recognizing Reality

"I don't think what they're doing is radical. I think they're recognizing reality," said UCLA Law School Dean William D. Warren. He added that 10 of UCLA's 60 professors now teach clinical education programs.

Educators at Stanford, Cornell and the University of Michigan agreed with Warren's analysis, noting trends in their own schools' curriculums over the past few years.

But while the educators said the report advocates nothing new, they predicted that it will have some impact.

Many law professors still have doubts about the value of clinical education, said Terrance Sandalow, dean of the University of Michigan Law School, adding that even supporters of the approach disagree on the objectives of practical programs. "I think whatever Harvard does will have some effect nationally," he added.

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Alan Gunn, chairman of the curriculum committee at Cornell Law School, agreed, saying "There has always been a tendency among law schools to do what Harvard does."

At Harvard, the number of students participating in volunteer legal aid societies has risen dramatically over the past few years. Last year, the Legal Aid Bureau received more student applications than ever before.

Portions of the committee's report will be considered by the Law School Faculty in a meeting today. The committee's specific recommendations on clinical education are not yet available.