Publication Date
5-2012
Document Type
Essay
Abstract
This Article is the third in a series of articles that are intended to address in depth my central concerns about the law school curriculum and associated professionalism issues. This larger project, which I have entitled "Fundamental Dimensions of Law and Legal Education," seeks to make the case for the liberalization of U.S. legal education, although perhaps the term reliberalization would be more accurate given the emphasis upon a broad education for lawyers during the first phase in the history of U.S. legal education. Whereas the two prior articles are essentially descriptive-the first being conceptual and the second historical in nature-the present article is essentially normative. Like the first article, and unlike the second, it does not purport to be based on extensive research of the relevant literature, but is rather an extended essay on a curricular philosophy that has been maturing over many years.
My original plan for this normative component of the project had been to address subject matter and courses dealing with the cultural dimensions of law (that is, the historical, jurisprudential, and comparative dimensions of law) and the transnational dimensions of law. Although these have been my constant central concern in the project, I decided to address subject matter and courses dealing with the social dimensions of law as well. Thus, I focus on subject matter and courses that are commonly regarded as providing "perspectives" on law and lawyering.
Recommended Citation
Mark L. Jones, Fundamental Dimensions of Law and Legal Education: Perspectives on Curriculum Reform, Mercer Law School's Woodruff Curriculum, and... "Perspectives", 63 Mercer L. Rev. 975 (2012).