Law Schools Customize Degrees to Students' Taste

Chronicle of Higher Education. 1255 23rd Street NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20037. Tel: 800-728-2803; e-mail: circulation@chronicle.com; Web site: http://chronicle.com/

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Legal Education (Professions); Law Students; Law Schools; Curriculum Implementation; Curriculum Enrichment; Specialization; Majors (Students)

0009-5982

Going to law school to get a law degree has become a little like going to an ice-cream parlor for a scoop of vanilla. Plenty of people still do it, but many schools' brochures--like the elaborate flavor-and-topping menus on ice-cream parlor walls--now tempt them with something different, something more. Law students can have their "juris doctor" credential flavored with a concentration in a specialty like environmental or intellectual-property law. Or they can go for a double, mixing their J.D. with a master's degree in some other field like business administration, clinical psychology, or the geosciences. If they wish, they can top their selection off with a master of laws (LL.M.) degree, signifying expertise in some subfield like alternative dispute resolution. This article reports that the curriculum at law schools has undergone a major transformation in recent years, as many have set up niche programs to attract students. A few critics, however, are beginning to speak out against the trend, arguing that it is driven largely by marketing considerations and hurts legal education.

ERIC

2009

EJ826022