and clinical education. The faculty’s hope is students will satisfy this
obligation, in part, by completing a simulation course during their
second year. That course, along with the completion of Professional
Responsibility and an Intensive Writing Experience will prepare
students for a “Live Law” experience during the third year. Live
Law consists of an opportunity to represent actual clients in either
the School of Law’s Clinical Education Program or in a field
placement. The new ABA Standards contain numerous requirements
designed to make sure field placements will have strong educational
components. Faculty also will continue to assess the field placements
to ensure they met those education expectations.
In addition to changing the curriculum for all students, the
faculty also wanted to provide additional assistance to students in
preparation for the bar examination. This includes adding a course
on Intensive Legal Reading, Writing, and Analysis during the fall
that is designed for second-year students looking for additional work
on the skills taught during the first-year lawyering skills courses. In
the spring, the faculty has added a course on Reading, Writing, and
Analysis Skills for the Bar Exam designed for students who will be
taking the Bar Exam.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the new ABA Standards is
the requirement that law schools regularly assess their programs of
legal education. The system of assessment will be continuous, and law
schools will have to show what they examined, what they learned,
and what changes they adopted–or decided not to adopt–based
on the analysis. The expectation is that law schools will discover
from the assessments what they should change to make sure their
students learn the fundamental knowledge, skills, and values needed
to succeed as entry-level lawyers. This means future students can and
should expect that the UND School of Law will tinker not only with
the content of individual courses, but with how those courses fit into
an overall program of study.
When this year’s new law students graduate in May 2019, they will
have received their education in a different manner than those who
went before them. The hope of the faculty and the ABA is these
changes will do an even better job of preparing graduates to enter the
legal profession ready and able to represent clients and bring value to
employers.
Bradley Myers is the Associate
Dean for Academic Affairs and
the Randy H. Lee Professor at the
UND School of Law. He is also a
North Dakota Commissioner to
the Uniform Law Commission.
Professor Myers joined the faculty
at UND in 2001. He received
his J.D. from the University of
Oregon and his LL.M. in Taxation
from New York University.
State Bar of North Dakota Members Are you getting the most out of your
bar membership?
Casemaker – A comprehensive legal research database is available
for free to all bar members. Bar members get access to case law,
statutes and more for all 50 states and Federal jurisdictions.
North Dakota Jury Instructions are included! And cases and
statutes that are cited in the Jury Instructions are linked to make
your life even easier.
To access Casemaker visit www.sband.org and click on the
Casemaker link.
If you have questions contact Casemaker Support at 877.659.0801
www.casemakerlegal.com
FALL 2016
13