New Books - Spring 2007, List 1

EDUCATING LAWYERS: PREPARATION FOR THE PROFESSION OF LAW
by William M. Sullivan, et al.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2007.

KF272.E38 2007 Third Floor
Shelved in New Books first, then at call number location

From Jossey-Bass:
How should judges, in America and elsewhere, interpret statutes and the Constitution? Previous work on these fundamental questions has typically started from abstract views about the nature of democracy or constitutionalism, or the nature of legal language, or the essence of the rule of law. From these conceptual premises, theorists typically deduce an ambitious role for judges, particularly in striking down statutes on constitutional grounds.

"This volume, under the presidency of Lee Shulman, is intended primarily to foster appreciation for what legal education does at its best. We want to encourage more informed scholarship and imaginative dialogue about teaching and learning for the law at all organizational levels: in individual law schools, in the academic associations, in the profession itself. We also believe our findings will be of interest within the academy beyond the professional schools, as well as among that public concerned with higher education and the promotion of professional excellence."

-From the Introduction

"Educating Lawyers is no doubt the best work on the analysis and reform of legal education that I have ever read. There is a call for deep changes in the way law is taught, and I believe that it will be a landmark in the history of legal education."

-Bryant G. Garth, dean and professor of law, Southwestern Law School and former director of the American Bar Foundation

"Educating Lawyers succeeds admirably in describing the educational programs at virtually every American law school. The call for the integration of the three apprenticeships seems to me exactly what is needed to make legal education more 'professional,' to prepare law students better for the practice of law, and to address societal expectations of lawyers."

-Stephen Wizner, dean of faculty, William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law, Yale Law School

William M. Sullivan is a senior scholar at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He is the author of Work and Integrity and coauthor of Habits of the Heart.

Anne Colby co-directs The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's Preparation for the Professions Program and Higher Education and the Development of Moral and Civic Responsibility Program.

Judith Welch Wegner is a senior scholar with The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She has served as the president of the Association of American Law Schools.

Lloyd Bond is a senior scholar with The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, working in the area of assessment across several of the Foundation's programs.

Lee S. Shulman has been president of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching since 1997. He is a former president of the American Educational Research Association as well as past president of the National Academy of Education.

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THE CURMUDGEON'S GUIDE TO PRACTICING LAW
by Mark Herrmann
Chicago, ILL: American Bar Association, 2006.

KF300.H47 2006 Third Floor
Shelved in New Books first, then at call number location

ABA Book Briefs Podcast - Interview with Mark Hermann

From the American Bar Association:
The "Curmudgeon" has been practicing law for just a little too long, and he may be too jaded for his own good. Beneath his crusty exterior, however, lies a fount of wisdom. The Curmudgeon knows everything about the legal profession, and he's willing to share his keen observations from the corner office. He offers practical and honest, if blunt, advice for surviving and thriving in a law firm. He tells you what you need to know about billing, managing your assistant, drafting internal memos, dealing with clients and building your law practice. Read the Curmudgeon and find out what drives law partners crazy, what will impress them and what ten mistakes you should avoid. Concise, humorous and full of valuable (but curmudgeonly) insight, this is a must-read for every lawyer and law student.

Mark Herrmann himself is not quite as old and not quite as nasty as you might think after having read this book. He graduated from Princeton University in 1979 and The University of Michigan Law School (Order of the Coif, Michigan Law Review) in 1983. After graduation, he clerked for The Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mark practiced at the relatively small firm of Steinhart & Falconer in San Francisco from 1984 to 1989, when he moved to Cleveland and joined the international law firm Jones Day, where he is now a partner.

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