Working Group

Working Group Statement

Background
The last comprehensive strategic planning effort completed in 1998 was effective in pushing the Law School forward in terms of both student and faculty quality. It was based on a general perception of the types of changes that had occurred in the legal services business and in the academic world and what the Law School should do to respond.

Both the legal services industry and academia have continued to change since 1998, and the Law School continues to consider ways in which it can be best positioned to address these and future anticipated changes. Accordingly, a working group (the “Working Group”) has been created with members from the student, faculty, administration, and alumni communities of the Law School.

The Working Group is engaged in a new strategic planning effort. This effort is not intended to displace the prior effort, but to improve on it. Unlike the prior effort which looked at the Law School as a whole, this effort will focus on the Law School’s main measure of success – its graduates. We seek to further our understanding of the types of careers that our graduates face, the abilities they need to be successful in those careers, and what the Law School can do to better ensure that they have those abilities.

The Working Group has identified a set of abilities and traits that we believe our graduates need to have for success in their careers. In some cases, these involve traits that can be selected in the admissions process; in other cases, these are abilities that the Law School can develop in its students as part of its curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular programs; and finally, some of these traits and abilities can only be developed after completion of the JD education.

Goal
The ultimate outcome measure is the average success of our students in the marketplace over the course of their careers. If we get it right, our legal education will be relatively more desirable to applicants and to employers than the educations provided by other top law schools. Put another way, our goal is to provide a differentiated law school experience that is superior to that provided by other top law schools in a way relevant to our students’ careers.

Considerations
Our focus needs to be broad. In making any changes, we need to realize that:

Changing needs throughout career: The abilities that benefit a graduate may change over the course of a career and through a number of different jobs.
Foundational education:

Multi-Job Careers: While most of our graduates will spend most of their careers in jobs in the private legal services business, a substantial number of our graduates will spend significant time as lawyers or managers with businesses, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.
Foundational Abilities: Thus, the abilities that we provide our students must provide a foundation for students pursuing varied careers.
No Sector Selection: While we can and do provide more specialized legal education for students who have a clear and certain career path, we should assume that students are at the beginning of careers that will take some twists and turns in terms of specialization. The Law School should not try to choose a particular specialization niche (such as litigation, public law, business, or government and public service) and prepare students only for that.

Comparative advantage: The Law School should recognize that it is better positioned to provide some abilities and not as well positioned to provide others. It is likely to be best in providing the basic abilities needed by all law graduates and basic understanding of law and legal institutions, coupled with a sophisticated understanding of the needs of clients. On the other hand, it is not necessarily as effective in preparing specific types of lawyers for careers in particular legal specialties or providing technical education on narrow and complex topics.

Program Structure
The Working Group is addressing program structure (the timing and way the education is delivered) as well as the set of abilities our graduates require for career success. While it can be debated and tweaked, generally the curriculum in terms of legal analysis and content is well structured, and the Curriculum Development Committee is constantly reviewing and improving that. The Working Group is focused instead on the broader issues of the competencies our graduates need for us to better offer a superior and differentiated legal education. The Working Group will move quickly to suggest immediate changes with which the Law School can experiment over the next few years.

Thank you to the law firm senior partners who participated in our focus groups.