Ehren, Charles A., Jr.

Link, David T.

Plager, Sheldon J.

Read, Frank T.

English

Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law

Maurer School of Law: Indiana UniversityDigital Repository @ Maurer LawArticles by Maurer Faculty Faculty Scholarship1981Law Deans' "Open Letter" Tells of Student SkillsTraining PlanSheldon J. PlagerIndiana University School of Law - BloomingtonFrank T. ReadIndiana University School of Law - IndianapolisDavid T. LinkNotre Dame Law SchoolCharles A. Ehren Jr.Valparaiso University School of LawFollow this and additional works at: http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpubPart of the Legal Education Commons, and the Legal Profession CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the FacultyScholarship at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted forinclusion in Articles by Maurer Faculty by an authorized administrator ofDigital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contactwattn@indiana.edu.Recommended CitationPlager, Sheldon J.; Read, Frank T.; Link, David T.; and Ehren, Charles A. Jr., "Law Deans' "Open Letter" Tells of Student Skills TrainingPlan" (1981). Articles by Maurer Faculty. Paper 2159.http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub/2159Law Deans' 'Open Letter' Tells ofStudent Skills Training PlanDear Members of the IndianaBar.To the best of our knowledge thisis the first time that the four deans,representing Indiana's four lawschools, have ever jointly authoredan open letter to the members of theIndiana Bar. The reason for thisunusual action is simple: we needthe help of the state's lawyers nowmore than any time in our history.A bill which is of very great im-portance to legal education hasbeen introduced in the IndianaSenate. As a member of theIndiana Bar we feel you should beinformed about that bill, and theserious deficiencies in legal educa-tion which gave rise to it.BACKGROUND: For the pastseveral years it has been apparentto both legal educators and thepracticing bar that most recent lawschool graduates have received in-sufficient training in the basicprofessional skills of legal writing,research, drafting, interviewing,counseling, negotiating and trialand appellate advocacy.In response to increasinglyharsh criticism, in 1978 theAmerican Bar Association'sSection on Legal Education andAdmission to the Bar appointed a(The concept of the skillstraining described in this letterhas been endorsed by the Board ofManagers of the Indiana StateBar Association. However,differing views are held regard-ing the plan's means of finance.The Editor)blue ribbon task force on "LawyerCompetency: The Role of the LawSchools." That ABA task force'srecommendations (the CramtonReport) were released August 31,1979, specifically urging extensiveadditions to the program of instruc-tion offered at accredited lawschools. That report and a numberof other recent studies, includingthe Devitt Commission Reportcommissioned by the FederalCourts, do not call for any lessen-ing of emphasis on areas of tradi-tional strength, but rather call forinstructional additions that willrequire substantially increasedresources. All skills training im-provement proposals recognizethat professional skills can only betaught in the advanced law curri-culum in small sections with indi-vidualized instruction at very sub-stantially increased costs.The demands being madenationally on legal education havenot gone unnoticed in Indiana. Atthe urging of former GovernorGeorge N. Craig, the president ofthe State Board of Law Examiners,and the Indiana State Bar Associ-ation Committee on Legal Educa-tion and Admissions to the Bar,headed by Judge Paul H. Buchanan,Jr., the deans of the four IndianaLaw Schools - Indiana Universi-ty's Schools of Law at Bloomingtonand Indianapolis, Notre Dame andValparaiso - have engaged inintensive discussions on theseproblems for nearly 18 months.To begin, the problem appearedto us to be deceptively simple:recent law school graduates seemnot to have acquired all the skills oftheir profession while in lawschool. This is particularly trouble-some for those who pass directlyinto solo or small office practice.There seems little question that theschools do an excellent job pre-paring their students in thesubstance of the law, whichconstitutes the bulk of the subjectmatter considered in law school.However, with a few exceptions,techniques of law practicepresently do not constitute a majorpart of law school curricula. TheDeans of the four Indiana lawschools believe that this short-coming should and can becorrected. Each of the Indianaschools on its own has been seek-ing ways to address that problemand we have now joined together totry to find common solutions.In this common effort we havefound the message of the CramtonReport a clarion call: In order forlaw schools to teach skills and tocontribute effectively to thedevelopment of lawyer compe-tency, substantial new sources offunding will have to be found anddeveloped. The Cramton Reportsuggests that the cost of providingskills training would require atleast an additional one-third of thepresent total budget of each lawschool - roughly $1,000 (in 1978dollars) additional per lawstudent per year. At several lawschools, the costs of lawyer compe-tency programs (available to only asmall percentage of each lawschool class) average $3,000 perstudent. As we mentioned earlier,these higher costs are produced bythe combination of costly equip-ment, small class size and close,individual faculty supervisionnecessary for skills instruction -costs which are well known in theother professional schools. PublicFEBRUARY 1981support for medical, dental, andveterinary education is five toseven times as great per student asit is for legal education. Lawyertraining has been funded at shock-ingly low levels as compared withsister professions. Finally, we mustnote that this comes at a time whenour law schools and parent uni-versities face serious resourcedeficiencies in operating presentprograms of instruction.Out of these discussions, the pro-posal contained in the bill nowbefore the State Legislature wasborn.PROPOSAL: The Senate Bill isboth imaginative and, better yet,feasible. It would create an entityentitled the "Consortium ofIndiana Law Schools." The Con-sortium would be empowered toseek and distribute funding to thefour schools on a grant formula tiedto each school's enrollment. Thefunding each school would receivewould be restricted to use only fortraining in the lawyering skillsmentioned above; such fundswould not be available to supportthe traditional academic programsof the four schools. But providingfunding would not be the onlypurpose of the Consortium.An inevitable consequence of thelack of funding for skills training isthat the teaching skills and tech-niques required by that traininghave been explored seriously only inthe last few years. Skills training ispresently an area of most intenseexperimentation in the pedagogyof legal education. A Consortium ofthe four Indiana law schools is per-fectly suited to carry out thisimportant work. The Consortiumcould maintain a small full-time,and larger consulting, staff. In thisway, we can avoid duplication andachieve economies of scale inresearch, program design, evalu-ation, and support without sacri-ficing the autonomy of the partici-pating institutions or the individu-ality of the programs they provide.The Consortium will have a rela-tively simple structure. It will beestablished as a non-profitcorporation by the participantschools. It will be governed by a10-member Board of Directors, toinclude the deans of the four lawschools, and representatives of thebench, bar, Legislature and public.Day to day activities of the Con-sortium will be administered by anexecutive director, who will actboth as a liaison to fundingagencies and as coordinator ofsupport services for the schools.FUNDING: The creation of theSkills Training Consortium is onlythe first step. Our proposal recom-mends funding of the Consortiumthrough legislation of three types:(1) a completely new chapter of thehigher education title whichestablishes a fund, (2) amendmentsto existing statutes which imposefiling fees in certain civil cases andcosts in certain criminal cases, and(3) amendments to existingstatutes which impose a fee on liti-gants demanding jury trials. Theproposed legislation creates thefund, authorizes the payment ofcosts and fees into the statetreasury, earmarks the moniespaid into the treasury and author-izes the Consortium to manage thefund by conducting research, pro-viding support programs and byproviding direct grants to the lawschools for skills training.The premise of this legislation isthat persons utilizing the servicesof the bar - those who wouldbenefit directly from the improve-ment of lawyer skills - shouldprovide the primary means ofsupport. We view it, at least in part,as a form of "user fee" for the con-sumers of certain types of legalservices. There is no tax burden tothe general public. Also, the "userfee" feature of the proposed lawseems best applied at the filingstage of litigation. Since severalfees and charges are presentlytaxed and collected at this filingstage, a fee for legal skills trainingfits the existing system. Further-more, given projections as to staterevenues any request for fundingfrom general revenue sourceswould be a futile endeavor. Whileany increase in costs in an infla-tionary economy is troublesome,we feel the requests in the bill aremodest when measured against theunmet need now faced by legaleducation.If the proposed bill is passed, andassuming funding of the magni-tude suggested is obtained, theIndiana law schools should moveto the forefront of legal educationnationally. No law school in thiscountry is now meeting its respon-sibilities in the area of "skillstraining," as the term is used here.If we succeed in this endeavor webelieve we shall have stimulated aquantum leap in the quality of legaleducation.We need your help, your under-standing and your support.Very truly yours,Sheldon J. Plager, DeanIndiana University Schoolof Law - BloomingtonFrank T. Read, DeanIndiana University Schoolof Law - IndianapolisDavid T. Link, DeanNotre Dame Law SchoolCharles A. Ehren, Jr., DeanValparaiso University Schoolof LawRES GESTAESILENT SECRETARYRecord phone & room one partyconsentual conversations usinginexpensive cassette recorder.Small & easily concealed.Call or WriteJohn Sibert- U.S. Secret Service (Retired) -CIC, 156 Woodslde Ave.,Indianapolis, IN 46219(317) 357-9300

Law Deans\u27  Open Letter  Tells of Student Skills Training Plan

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Law Deans\u27 Open Letter Tells of Student Skills Training Plan

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Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law