Law School May Review Clinical Studies

When newly-appointed Dean of the Law School Robert C. Clark made his first public statement about his plans for the school, he said that he would review the school's burgeoning clinical studies program.

"I don't want to make any snap judgements," Clark said, "but clinical studies make up a very large portion of the school's budget."

The program review and the changes that may follow from it indicate a sharp change in policy from those of outgoing Dean James Vorenberg '49, who made the school's clinical studies program a priority in his administration, members of the Law School community say.

Although Harvard has one of the most extensive clinical studies programs in the nation, many other universities have programs designed to incorporate practical legal experience with theoretical classroom learning.

Clark, who will assume the deanship in July, says that he will wait for input from faculty and the long-range planning committee before he decides what changes he will make in Harvard's Clinical Studies program, but his decision to review it has raised questions about the role public service programs play in legal education.