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A comment on Students are fleeing US law schools and pouring into engineering. Parent comment

Re:Students are fleeing US law schools and pouring into engi... by granfalloon on Wednesday March 11, 2015 @03:37PM (#9186457)
As a lawyer, I think I'd actually be in favor of the opposite approach -- law school (maybe just one year) with no bar exam. I guess the bar has some value as a "last line of defense" against totally incompetent people entering the profession [1], but it's really just a giant memorization frenzy with no real practical benefit. It's expected that you'll get a large chunk of the test wrong and forget everything in a couple months. Law school, on the other hand, is where people are introduced to legal writing, reading opinions, legal research, and thinking logically (something that isn't a big deal for many undergrads.)

It kills me because law school is way too expensive and way too long, and may well be unnecessary for a lot of people. But I understand the need for some kind of meaningful credentialing, since the harm one can do as a bad lawyer is usually more dangerous than what can be done by a bad engineer. (Mostly because any law grad can go and hang a shingle the day after they are admitted.)

[1] I don't mean to imply that failing the bar means one is incompetent! Extreme incompetency is a sufficient, but not necessary, condition.

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Re:Students are fleeing US law schools and pouring into engi... by swampthing on Wednesday March 11, 2015 @08:14PM (#9188381)
I don't know - I personally felt I learned a lot from studying for the bar. Sure, I don't remember most of the details - but I remember enough to have instincts and point myself in the right direction if I need to. And I definitely learned a lot more black letter law from studying for the bar than I did in law school. Frankly, I think I would have been well-served by having to study for the bar prior to law school.
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Re:Students are fleeing US law schools and pouring into engi... by bbanyc on Wednesday March 11, 2015 @08:51PM (#9188543)
Agreed on "way too expensive and way too long." Most of the world seems to do fine with law as an undergraduate degree. I think a mandatory apprenticeship period, as Canada and the UK have, would also be useful, as neither American law schools nor the bar exam teach you much about how to actually practice law. (But good luck convincing the ABA education committee of any of this...)
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