La Verne Law Integrates Professionalism into Curriculum
Law schools across the nation have taught legal doctrine through the use of the case method since the 1800s. In addition to teaching policy arguments in American jurisprudence, law schools have traditionally taught skills such as legal research, writing, and analysis.
However, the American Bar Association (ABA), the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC), and the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) have recognized the increasing importance of teaching professionalism skills to law students.
In 2006, the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism published the Report on a Survey of Law School Professionalism Programs that recommended law schools should offer courses in professionalism beyond the basic professional responsibility course that is traditionally offered in law schools.
In 2009, the NOBC published the Law School Professionalism Initiative Report, which recommended that law schools teach ethics, professionalism and the development of a professional identity. In 2014, NALP’s Law School Professional Development Programming Survey revealed that 25 law schools have a graded and/or credit-bearing program for teaching professional development.
As a law school with an official mission for being “an incubator for innovation in legal education,” La Verne Law will offer a credit-bearing course entitled “Professionalism and Ethics.” The course will base its content on the NOBC study, which adopted its view of professionalism from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law.
The NOBC’s report states:
A non-exclusive list of the professional traits that law schools should promote includes: competence, knowledge, skill, honesty, trustworthiness, reliability, respect for legal obligations, responsibility, civility in dealings with others, personal integrity, and empathy. Professional identity also includes a commitment to and respect for the administration of justice, the institutions of the law, and public service in general.
In addition, this course will teach students how and why they are responsible for enhancing the confidence of others in order to best represent themselves, the law school, future clients, and the legal profession itself. Attorneys represent others who place their trust in them; students will learn how to cultivate that trust and prepare for a career by crafting an ethical presence through behavior, appearance, verbal communication, written correspondence, and the Internet’s digital footprint.
As a capstone project, students will create an ePortfolio, which is a collection of digital evidence that showcases a student’s journey in understanding professionalism. The ePortfolio is currently being utilized with undergraduates in the La Verne Experience, and the law school hopes to use this class to integrate that program’s personal and community engagement principles into its curriculum.
This class will use La Verne’s values to help first year students transition into the professional role expected of law students and attorneys.
