Seymour, Whitney North, Sr.

English

St. John's University School of Law

St. John's Law Review Volume 50 Number 3 Volume 50, Spring 1976, Number 3 Article 2 August 2012 Current Trends in Legal Education and the Legal Profession--An Advocate's View Whitney North Seymour Sr. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation Seymour, Whitney North Sr. (1976) "Current Trends in Legal Education and the Legal Profession--An Advocate's View," St. John's Law Review: Vol. 50 : No. 3 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview/vol50/iss3/2 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in St. John's Law Review by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact selbyc@stjohns.edu. CURRENT TRENDS IN LEGAL EDUCATIONAND THE LEGAL PROFESSION-AN ADVOCATE'S VIEWWHITNEY NORTH SEYMOUR, SR.*I am pleased to introduce this fine Symposium with some gen-eral remarks from a member of the practicing trial bar. The viewsof leaders in the academic community, the judiciary, and the bargenerally are very adequately presented by the distinguished au-thors the editors have recruited. Indeed, legal education today hasrarely been dealt with by such a knowledgeable group.I have long admired the work of the approved law schools inthis country and have had a chance to observe that work in variouscapacities, both in the American Bar Association (ABA) as anaccrediting agency and in other groups. I have also done somepart-time teaching at Yale and New York University Law Schoolsand have been deeply interested in continuing legal education, nowapparently, at last, coming into its own through cooperation amongbench, bar, and law school. For a number of years I have also hadthe pleasure of working, as a member of his board, with WilliamPincus, who has done such a phenomenal job encouraging theintroduction of clinical legal education into law schools. Becausethe law is not a mere trade, I have never agreed with those whowere broadly critical of the schools and who urged that more timeshould be given to a species of trade school training. Nor, on theother hand, do I agree with those embattled academics who arguethat the bar should have nothing to say about what or how lawschools should teach. In a profession in which adequacy of serviceto the public must be of primary concern, there should be no ivorytowers where no one will listen to appeals for improvement fromqualified and dedicated sources.It seems to me that, at present, we are approaching a goodequilibrium between the theoretical and the practical, making legaleducation most useful and fruitful. No doubt adjustments areneeded to correct imbalances as they appear. The intellectual de-velopment which follows from the hard thinking required of lawstudents by inspired teachers of legal theory and practice in broadfields of law still rightly occupies the predominant part of every* President, American Bar Association, 1960-1961; President, American College of TrialLawyers, 1963-1964; President, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 1950-1952.B.A. 1920, LL.D. 1962, University of Wisconsin; LL.B. 1923, LL.D. 1960, Columbia Univer-sity.AN ADVOCATE'S VIEWcurriculum. The ability to make correct analysis of legal problemsand the capacity to choose among possible solutions is basic toeverything else. But, through the introduction of clinical legaleducation and through added emphasis on moot court, trial prac-tice, and legal aid experience, law school training has added adimension of dealing with real human beings and their problemswhich will be invaluable in actual practice.Particularly through legal aid and related experiences, thestudent becomes familiar with the needs and problems of the poorand often friendless and acquires a sympathy for them which willenrich his life and give heart as well as mind to the profession.Through other clinical exposures he will be learning the art ofpersuasion, the art of negotiation, the importance of preservingamenities in dissent, and how to make law most useful where it ismost needed. No one supposes that great advocates can be turnedout with a sheepskin and no extensive experience; however, therudiments must be teachable, unless teaching is less enterprisingthan I have found it to be. Furthermore, he will be learning how todeal with adversaries and courts in a way consistent with the greattraditions of the profession. Trustworthiness in their dealings canbe given the great importance it deserves. Greater concern in alllaw schools with teaching legal ethics, due in some cases perhaps tothe recent requirement of the ABA that such instruction be givenin all approved law schools, is a useful development. Hopefully,this means that the ,student will also be learning the importance ofmaintaining the spirit of brotherhood in the profession - one ofits great hallmarks and joys. With that goes the deep satisfactionderived from skillful performance of professional duties in fullaccordance with professional standards.The great lawyers have been those who loved their professionmost, served it with greatest devotion, and got the highest degreeof pleasure and satisfaction out of their relations with judges andother lawyers. They represent the ideal which law students can beencouraged to emulate. In this connection, it is pleasant to re-member the remark of the greatest advocate of my time, John W.Davis, who argued a case in the Supreme Court after he was 80years of age. When a newspaperman asked how it felt to argue acase at his age, he merely replied: "I was glad to find that there wasstill a tune in the old violin." I know, from experience, that St.John's Law School has made notable strides in training lawyersbecause two of my talented law partners are outstanding St. John'sgraduates specializing in the trial field: William J. Manning andRoy L. Reardon.

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Current Trends in Legal Education and the Legal Profession--An Advocate\u27s View

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