Highlights include -
What is going wellThe report goes on to comment that -
• Three quarters of 3Ls (73%) reported that they were involved with pro bono or volunteer work during law school.
• Only 7% of 1Ls frequently came to class unprepared. Forty-two percent of first-year students never came to class without completing the readings or assignments.
• The average student spent 27 hours per week reading assigned material and studying.
• More than half of students (57%) frequently worked harder than they thought they could to meet faculty members’standards or expectations.
What needs attention
• The average student found faculty members to be only moderately available, helpful, and sympathetic.
• Half of students never worked with faculty on activities other than coursework, such as committees or student life activities.
• More than a quarter of students (27%) never discussed ideas from readings or classes with faculty members outside of class.
• Female students were less likely than male students to ask questions in class frequently.
• One in four students (24%) said that their coursework placed a strong emphasis on memorizing facts, ideas, or methods from courses and readings so that the student could repeat them in pretty much the same form.
What warrants further investigation
• While half of students felt that their legal education contributed substantially to the development of a personal code of values and ethics, half felt that the law school contributed only some or very little in this regard.
• Forty percent of 3Ls reported spending some time each week working for pay in a legal setting.
• A majority of students (59%) who used career-counseling services at the law school were satisfied with their experience, but more than half of 3Ls (57%) were unsatisfied with job search help
The Carnegie Report concluded that law schools do an excellent job of preparing students academically. In its assessment of the status of modern legal education, the authors noted that a primary strength of law school is the focus on the intellectual transformation of students—teaching students to think like lawyers. Data from LSSSE also confirm that students devote significant time and energy to class preparation. Results indicate that law school provides a rigorous academic experience for students.
At the same time, however, Carnegie suggests that law schools are not as effective in facilitating the transformation of law students to lawyers. In this regard, elements of professionalism and ethics are relevant. In part, the failure of law schools to achieve this broader transformation in their students may be due to ambivalence of faculty in teaching and discussing ethical and moral issues, suggesting that this is perhaps due to an assumption that such efforts are futile as students enter law school with well-developed moral sensibilities. Data from the 2010 LSSSE survey corroborate Carnegie’s assertion that professional development of students during law school is largely underemphasized. [The report is based on] responses from 6,839 students attending 22 law schools to a set of experimental items that explore students’ perceptions of how well their law school prepared them to step into the role of professionals.
According to students, law schools provide only moderate preparation for various ethical and professional aspects of their future legal careers. For example, only half of students reported that law school prepared them well (combining response options “very much” and “quite a bit”) to deal with ethical dilemmas that may arise as part of law practice, while only slightly more reported that law school prepared them to serve the public good through their profession. By contrast, more than two-thirds of students reported that law school has prepared them to manage their time effectively. While time management is important for success in school as well as in practice, the data suggest that law schools could do more to nurture the ethical development of their students.
Students with experience in clinics or pro bono work were more likely than other students to report that their law schools provided adequate professional preparation. Specifically, clinical participation and pro bono work correlated with a higher degree of preparation in the following areas:• Understanding the needs of future clients
• Working cooperatively with colleagues as part of a legal team
• Serving the public good through their profession
• Understanding professional values that will serve them in their legal careers
