Legal education

In 1900 the apprenticeship system was in retreat; by 2000 it was virtually dead. Practically speaking, the law schools now have a virtual monopoly on access to the bar. The sheer number of schools – and students – has grown tremendously, which is not surprising, since the number of lawyers was also growing rapidly. There were about one hundred law schools in 1910 (some of them night schools). 1980 there were more like two hundred. Most states had one or more law schools; and the states that had done without lawyers now mended their ways. Hawaii and Vermont joined the list of states with law schools. In 2000 Alaska was the only state without a law school inside its borders. Most big states had not one but many law schools.

The Langdell method had, as we saw, struggled to stay alive. By 1900 it was clearly on the move and conquering new territory. The armies of Langdell eventually swept the field, spreading the gospel of casebooks and Socratic dialogue throughout the country. Yale was a convert in 1903. Other holdouts gave up and fell into line somewhat later. Schools that switched to the Harvard method also tended to hire Harvard men as their teachers: Harvard in the first part of the century supplied almost a quarter of all the country’s law school teachers. All over the country small, poorly financed schools, some with night divisions as well as day-time students, pathetically tried to imitate Harvard, buying its methods and its casebooks, rather than searching for their own mission and soul.

Meanwhile, it became harder to get into law school. At the beginning of the century, Harvard already required a bachelor’s degree for admittance. Other schools gradually fell into line – Stanford, for example, 1924. In the 1960s, the ABA and the AALS required four years of college for everybody. The requirement, in short, became universal. After the Second World War, thousands of bright young veterans could go to any school that accepted them. The government would pay for it all – tuition, books and living expenses. Elite schools were no longer only for elite people. Veterans made up over 90 percent of the Harvard class of 1947.

Applications now flooded the schools. Social background and money no longer did an adequate job of filtering students. What replaced these, in part, was the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The LSAT and other requirements were meant to eliminate unqualified students. The LSAT was launched in 1948; 3500 applicants in sixty-three cities took the test. In 1952 forty-five law schools required it; the rest eventually followed suit. The University of Georgia adopted the test in 1962. The LSAT led to a drastic reduction in flunk-out rates. Schools as late as the 1950s admitted great number of students, and flushed out as many as a third of them after their first-year exams. In LSAT era, schools became very selective; it was much harder to get in to the top schools.

TASK 14. Answer the following questions:

1) How many law schools were there in 1910 and in 1980?

2) Was it easy to get into law school before the Second World War?

3) What it the LSAT?

TASK 15. Translate from Russian into English:

1. В начале двадцатого века для поступления в Гарвард требовалась степень бакалавра. 2. В 2000 году Аляска была единственным штатом, в котором не было собственного юридического факультета. 3. LSAT был введен в 1948 году; 3500 абитуриентов из 63 городов писали этот тест. 4. В начале двадцатого века году система ученичества постепенно отмирала. 5. После второй мировой войны тысячи молодых ветеранов могли поступить в любое учебное заведение.

6. В девятнадцатом веке местные власти ловили людей, которые нарушили закон, совершили поджог или ограбление. 7. В начале двадцатого века уклонение от уплаты налогов и мошенничество стали федеральными преступлениями. 8. После акта Линдберга федеральным преступлением стало пересекать границы штатов с человеком, которого незаконно задержали, похитили и удерживают с целью получения выкупа. 9. В 1950-х общество стало тревожиться из-за роста делинквентности несовершеннолетних. 10. Чтобы приговорить к смертной казни, присяжные или судья должны были установить по меньшей мере отягчающее обстоятельство. 11. Некоторые приговоренные к смертной казни были казнены только спустя 15 или 20 лет ожидания. 12. В самом конце двадцатого века люди стали задаваться вопросом: сколько невиновных людей были приговорены к смерти и казнены?