Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T21:14:06.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Developing ‘NextGen’ Lawyers through Project-Based Learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 December 2019

By
Anna Carpenter
Edited by
Catrina Denvir
Catrina Denvir
Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria
Get access

Summary

Today, technology is driving disruptive change in the legal profession and the public is demanding lawyers offer more value and choice in how legal services are delivered. Given these pressures, tomorrow’s legal profession will be fundamentally different from the profession we know today. Against this backdrop, this chapter argues the next generation of lawyers need at least five categories of multidimensional knowledge and skills: collaboration; design; project management; problem-solving; and lifelong learning. The prevailing, traditional legal education model was not designed to teach these multidimensional skills. This chapter describes some of traditional legal education’s deficiencies, introduces the pedagogy of problem-based learning, and advocates a particular form of this pedagogy: project-based learning that involves real clients or community partners. Through project-based learning – a student-centred, active, and experiential learning model – students learn the fundamentals of law and legal practice while gaining the multidimensional knowledge and skills needed to navigate disruptive change. Project-based learning can prepare law students to actively shape the future of the profession – as opposed to merely reacting to change – by harnessing technology and interdisciplinary insights to improve legal systems and create better legal service models for the public.

Keywords

legal educationdesign thinkingcollaborationproject-based learningproblem-basedlaw schoollaw studentslegal technology
Type
Chapter
Information
Modernising Legal Education , pp. 126 - 146
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albiston, CR and Sandefur, RL, ‘Expanding the Empirical Study of Access to Justice’ [2013] Wisconsin Law Review 101Google Scholar
Ambrogi, B, ‘The 20 Most Important Legal Technology Developments of 2018’ (Law Sites Blog, 2018) www.lawsitesblog.com/2018/12/20-important-legal-technology-developments-2018.html accessed 12 March 2019Google Scholar
Ambrogi, B, ‘Utah Nears Licensing of Paralegals to Practice Law in Limited Circumstances’ (Law Sites Blog, 2018) www.lawsitesblog.com/2018/08/utah-nears-licensing-paralegals-practice-law-limited-circumstances.html accessed 12 March 2019Google Scholar
Areen, JC, ‘2016 James P. While Lecture on Legal Education: Legal Education Reconsidered’ (2017) 50(4) Indiana Law Review 1087Google Scholar
Ashar, SM, ‘Law Clinics and Collective Mobilization’ (2008) 14(2) Clinical Law Review 355Google Scholar
Austin, DS, ‘Killing Them Softly: Neuroscience Reveals How Brain Cells Die from Law School Stress and How Neural Self-Hacking Can Optimize Cognitive Performance’ (2013) 59(2) Loyola Law Review 791Google Scholar
Barrows, HS, ‘Problem-Based, Self-Directed Learning’ (1983) 250(22) JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 3077Google Scholar
Barrows, HS, Problem-Based Learning Applied to Medical Education (Southern Illinois University – School of Medicine 2000)Google Scholar
Barton, B, ‘A Comparison Between the American Markets for Medical and Legal Services’ (2016) 67(5) Hastings Law Journal 1331Google Scholar
Bloom, EM, ‘Teaching Law Students to Teach Themselves: Using Lessons from Educational Psychology to Shape Self-Regulated Learners’ (2013) 59(2) Wayne Law Review 311Google Scholar
Brest, P, ‘The Responsibility of Law Schools: Educating Lawyers as Counselors and Problem Solvers’ (2006) 58(3/4) Law and Contemporary Problems 5Google Scholar
Brown, CC, ‘The Integrated Curriculum of the Future: Eliminating a Hidden Curriculum to Unveil a New Era of Collaboration, Practical Training, and Interdisciplinary Learning’ (2015) 7(1) Elon Law Review 167Google Scholar
Carasik, L, ‘Renaissance or Retrenchment: Legal Education at a Crossroads’ (2011) 44(3) Indiana Law Review 735Google Scholar
Carpenter, AE, ‘The Project Model of Clinical Education: Eight Pedagogical Principles to Maximize Student Learning and Social Justice Impact’ (2013) 20(1) Clinical Law Review 39Google Scholar
Chambliss, E, ‘Marketing Legal Assistance’ (2019) 148(1) Daedalus 98Google Scholar
Chemerinsky, E, ‘Rethinking Legal Education’ (2008) 43(2) Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 595Google Scholar
Columbia Law School, ‘Columbia Law Expands Experiential Offerings’ (2019) www.law.columbia.edu/news/2018/08/new-clinics-experiential-education accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Cox, EJ, ‘An Economic Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Reforming the Business of Law for a Sustainable and Competitive Future’ (2009) 57(2) UCLA Law Review 511Google Scholar
Crowder, PA, ‘Designing a Transactional Law Clinic for Life-Long Learning’ (2015) 19(2) Lewis & Clark Law Review 413Google Scholar
Dangel, S, Hagan, M and Williams, JB, ‘Designing Today’s Legal Education for Tomorrow’s Lawyers: The Role of Legal Design, Technology and Innovation’ in Masson, Antoine (ed.), Legal and Judicial Innovation: Methodology and Perspectives (Springer-Verlag 2018)Google Scholar
Derocher, RJ, ‘What’s Going on in Legal Education?’ [2012] American Bar Association Bar Leader www.americanbar.org/groups/bar_services/publications/bar_leader/2011_12/spring/legaled/ accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Flagg, BJ, ‘Experimenting with Problem-Based Learning in Constitutional Law’ (2002) 10 Washington University Journal of Law & Policy 101Google Scholar
Frank, J, ‘A Plea for Lawyer-Schools’ (1947) 56(8) Yale Law Journal 1303Google Scholar
Grimes, RH, Re-Thinking Legal Education under the Civil and Common Law: A Road Map for Constructive Change (Routledge 2018)Google Scholar
Hadfield, GK, ‘Privatizing Commercial Law’ (2001) 24(1) Regulation Magazine 40Google Scholar
Hadfield, GK, Rules for a Flat World: Why Humans Invented Law and How to Reinvent It for a Complex Global Economy (Oxford University Press 2017)Google Scholar
Hadfield, GK and Rhode, DL, ‘How to Regulate Legal Services to Promote Access, Innovation, and the Quality of Lawyering’ (2016) 67(5) Hastings Law Journal 1191Google Scholar
Hagan, M, ‘A Human-Centered Design Approach to Access to Justice: Generating New Prototypes and Hypotheses for Intervention to Make Courts User-Friendly’ (2018) 6(2) Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality 199Google Scholar
Hagan, M, ‘Participatory Design for Innovation in Access to Justice’ (2019) 148(1) Daedalus 120Google Scholar
Henderson, B, ‘Legal Services and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) (042)’ (Legal Evolution, 2018) www.legalevolution.org/2018/01/legal-services-consumer-price-index-cpi-cost-going-up-wallet-share-going-down-042/ accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Henderson, WD, ‘Three Generations of US Lawyers: Generalists, Specialists, Project Managers’ (2011) 70(2) Maryland Law Review 373Google Scholar
Hmelo-Silver, CE, ‘Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn?’ (2004) 16(3) Educational Psychology Review 235Google Scholar
Hmelo-Silver, CE, Duncan, RG and Chinn, CA, ‘Scaffolding and Achievement in Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning: A Response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006)’ (2007) 42(2) Educational Psychologist 99Google Scholar
Holland, B, ‘The Washington State Limited License Legal Technician Practice Rule: A National First in Access to Justice’ (2013) 82 SUPRA 75Google Scholar
Kerper, J, ‘Creative Problem Solving vs. the Case Method: A Marvelous Adventure in Which Winnie-the-Pooh Meets Mrs. Palsgraf’ (1998) 34(2) California Western Law Review 351Google Scholar
Knake, RN, ‘Cultivating Learners Who Will Invent the Future of Law Practice: Some Thoughts on Educating Entrepreneurial and Innovative Lawyers’ (2012) 38(3) Ohio Northern University Law Review 847Google Scholar
Kruse, KR, ‘Biting Off What They Can Chew: Strategies for Involving Students in Problem-Solving beyond Individual Client Representation’ (2002) 8(2) Clinical Law Review 405Google Scholar
Kurtz, S, Wylie, M and Gold, N, ‘Problem-Based Learning an Alternative Approach to Legal Education’ (1990) 13(2) Dalhousie Law Journal 797Google Scholar
Lambreth, SR and Rueff, DA, The Power of Legal Project Management: A Practical Handbook (American Bar Association 2014)Google Scholar
Lebow, D, ‘Constructivist Values for Instructional Systems Design: Five Principles Toward a New Minset’ (1993) 41(3) Educational Technology Research and Development 4Google Scholar
Miller, J, ‘Australia’s Family Law Crisis Reaches Tipping Point’ (InDaily, 2018) https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2018/03/22/australias-family-law-crisis-reaches-tipping-point/Google Scholar
Moens, GA, ‘The Mysteries of Problem-Based Learning: Combining Enthusiasm and Excellence’ (2007) 38(2) University of Toledo Law Review 623Google Scholar
Moliterno, JE, ‘Legal Education, Experiential Education, and Professional Responsibility’ (1997) 38(1) William and Mary Law Review 71Google Scholar
Moliterno, JE, ‘The Future of Legal Education Reform’ (2013) 40(2) Pepperdine Law Review 423Google Scholar
Moskovitz, M, ‘Beyond the Case Method: It’s Time to Teach with Problems’ (1992) 42(2) Journal of Legal Education 241Google Scholar
Mullan, J, ‘Legal Project Management: Passing Fad or Here to Stay?’ (2012) 12(3) Legal Information Management 214Google Scholar
Nathanson, S, ‘The Role of Problem Solving in Legal Education’ (1989) 39(2) Journal of Legal Education 167Google Scholar
National Association for Law Placement, ‘What Do We Know about JD Advantage Jobs?’ NALP Bulletin (Washington, DC, November 2017) www.nalp.org/1117research accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
National Centre for State Courts, ‘Civil Justice Initiative: The Landscape of Civil Litigation in State Courts’ (National Centre for State Courts 2015) www.ncsc.org/~/media/files/pdf/research/civiljusticereport-2015.ashxGoogle Scholar
New York Times Editorial, ‘Legal Education Reform’ New York Times (New York, 25 November 2011) A18 www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/opinion/legal-education-reform.html accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Organ, JM, ‘Legal Education and the Legal Profession: Convergence or Divergence’ (2012) 38(3) Ohio Northern University Law Review 885Google Scholar
Perrin, B, Audas, R and Péloquin-Ladany, S, ‘Canada’s Justice Deficit : The Case for a Justice System Report Card’ (Macdonald-Laurier Institute 2016) www.macdonaldlaurier.ca/report-card-criminal-justice-system/Google Scholar
Pink, DH, A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age (Riverhead Books 2005)Google Scholar
Preston, A, ‘Designing the Australian Tax System’ in Boland, Richard J Jr. and Collopy, Fred (eds.), Managing as Designing (Stanford University Press 2009)Google Scholar
Reno, J, ‘Lawyers as Problem-Solvers: Keynote Address to the AALS’ (1999) 49(1) Journal of Legal Education 5Google Scholar
Resnik, J, ‘The Privatization of Process: Requiem for and Celebration of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure at 75’ (2014) 162(7) University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1793Google Scholar
Rhode, DL, The Trouble with Lawyers (Oxford University Press 2015)Google Scholar
Ruhl, JB, ‘The Rise of Legal Project Management’ (2015) 19(4) The Young Lawyer 6Google Scholar
Sandefur, RL, ‘What We Know and Need to Know About the Legal Needs of the Public’ (2016) 67(2) South Carolina Law Review 443Google Scholar
Schwartz, MH, ‘Teaching Law by Design: How Learning Theory and Instructional Design Can Inform and Reform Law Teaching’ (2001) 38(2) San Diego Law Review 347Google Scholar
Schwartz, MH and Manning, PJ, Expert Learning for Law Students (3rd edn, Carolina Academic Press 2018)Google Scholar
Silver, C, ‘Getting Real About Globalization and Legal Education: Potential and Perspectives for the US’ (2013) 24(2) Stanford Law and Policy Review 457Google Scholar
Snyder, L, Democratizing Legal Service: Obstacles and Opportunities (Lexington Books 2016)Google Scholar
Sonsteng, JO and others, ‘A Legal Education Renaissance: A Practical Approach for the Twenty-First Century’ (2007) 34(1) William Mitchell Law Review 303Google Scholar
Stanford University, ‘The Legal Design Lab’ https://law.stanford.edu/organizations/pages/legal-design-lab/#slsnav-our-mission accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Sullivan, WM and others, Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law (1st edn, Jossey-Bass 2007)Google Scholar
Susskind, R, Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future (1st edn, Oxford University Press 2013)Google Scholar
Susskind, R and Susskind, D, The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts (Oxford University Press 2015)Google Scholar
Tashea, J, ‘California Bar Task Force to Consider Regulatory Changes on Nonlawyer Ownership of Legal Services Firms’ ABA Journal (Chicago, 27 July 2018) www.abajournal.com/news/article/california_bar_task_force_to_propose_regulatory_changes_affecting_nonlawyer accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
The University of Arizona, ‘Innovation for Justice: Unlock Change’ (2019) https://law.arizona.edu/innovation-for-justice accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Torrey, M, ‘You Call That Education?’ (2004) 19(1) Wisconsin Women’s Law Journal 93Google Scholar
University of York, ‘Problem Based Learning’ www.york.ac.uk/law/postgraduate/llmprogrammes/llm-international-corporate-commercial/problem-based-learning/ accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Wegner, JW, ‘Reframing Legal Education’s “Wicked Problems”’ (2009) 61(4) Rutgers Law Review 867Google Scholar
Weinstein, J and others, ‘Teaching Teamwork to Law Students’ (2013) 63(1) Journal of Legal Education 36Google Scholar
Weinstein, J and Morton, L, ‘Stuck in a Rut: The Role of Creative Thinking in Problem Solving and Legal Education’ (2003) 9(2) Clinical Law Review 835Google Scholar
Wikipedia, ‘Joshua Browder’ (2018) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/joshua_browder accessed 20 May 2019Google Scholar
Zimmerman, BJ, ‘A Social Cognitive View of Self-Regulated Academic Learning’ (1989) 81(3) Journal of Educational Psychology 329Google Scholar
Zimmerman, BJ, ‘Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview’ (2002) 41(2) Theory Into Practice 64Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×