The Elon University School of Law Advisory Board focused on the need for changes in U.S. legal education at its spring meeting held on campus April 4. The session was moderated by board chair David Gergen. Details…
Gergen, a former presidential adviser and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University, led a panel discussion in a session that attracted local attorneys and business leaders. The session was titled “Reframing legal Education.” He said the foundations of law curriculum were formed in the late 1800s and have not changed significantly since then. Gergen said there is growing recognition in law schools that the curriculum needs to be revisited.
>> Listen to Gergen’s remarks…
Leary Davis, dean of the Elon University School of Law, discussed his work in preparing a curriculum that addresses the shortcomings of today’s legal education. Students will begin their work in Elon’s law school with an August session that orients students to legal case analysis and leadership education.
>> Listen to Davis’ remarks about hallmarks of the Elon law curriculum
Panelist David Campbell, Smith Richardson Senior Fellow at the nationally renowned Center for Creative Leadership, said there is a pressing need for leadership in the legal profession. He said the number of lawyers in the nation’s top 50 law firms has grown dramatically, and the resulting bureaucracy amplifies the need for legal leadership.
>> Listen to Campbell’s remarks…
Panelist R. Kent Greenawalt, University Professor at the Columbia University School of Law, talked about the curricular elements he favors for first-year law students. He says students need to learn important first lessons that prepare them for the study of law.
>> Listen to Greenawalt’s remarks…
Gergen said Elon University is a pioneer in re-examining legal education. He called efforts to craft a new model an “enormously creative process.”
>> Listen to Gergen’s remarks…
Elon’s law school enrolls its inaugural class of about 100 students this August in downtown Greensboro, N.C.