OTHERWISE: ABA Pressed to Boost Law Students' Practical Training.
Does clinical education strengthen lawyers’ competence? Is it necessary? Is this good educational policy or special-interest pleading by a section of law school faculty?
“Should the American Bar Association require that all law students graduate with at least some practice skills training under their belts?A group of clinical law professors thinks so. They have asked the ABA’s Counsel of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to amend its law school accreditation standards to require that students complete 15 credit hours of real-world lawyering coursework.The Clinical Legal Education Association also asked that would-be lawyers complete at least one clinic or externship before they graduate.”