In "To Practice Law, Apprentice First" (Op-Ed, Feb. 18), John J. Farmer Jr., the dean of Rutgers School of Law in Newark, correctly identifies several faults with legal academia and the legal profession, but his proposal to require law graduates to apprentice at low wages would not solve the problem, but would only assure that law school revenues would remain ever-increasing.
Reducing graduates' wages will do little but keep a law education out of reach for anyone without the means to pay inflated tuition out of pocket, while subsidizing law firm profits. Serious solutions share the costs equitably.
An underpaid apprenticeship scheme would be much better received if it replaced the (largely unnecessary) third year of law school, but don't hold your breath waiting for law deans to get behind a 33 percent revenue reduction. And students would be more likely to pursue lower-paying public service careers if tuition were reduced; Rutgers's fully loaded cost for in-state students living off campus is nearly $50,000 a year.
DAVE SILBERMAN
Guilford, Conn., Feb. 18, 2013
The writer, a corporate lawyer and 2001 graduate of Columbia University School of Law, still owes approximately $55,000 in law school loans.
To the Editor:
I would go one step further than John J. Farmer Jr. The law school process is too long, too institutionalized, too expensive and too arrogant.
First create a bachelor of laws degree: that is, revive the L.L.B. Start with an elite school that has no law school, like Dartmouth, Brown or Amherst. Four years of schooling with two summers of internship.
Start with the current law school core curriculum, then add an intensive course on drawing legal documents and briefs. Any remaining credit hours could be filled as electives so long as they are approved by the student's law program mentor, who would be assigned to the student upon acceptance into the program.
It would means fewer student loans, an upgrade of academic discipline in nonscience courses in college and recognition that the liberal arts degree has already abandoned the traditional canon.
CHRISTOPHER DENTON
Elmira, N.Y., Feb. 18, 2013
The writer is a lawyer.
To the Editor:
John J. Farmer Jr. is right to call for new lawyers to apprentice at the start of their careers. Apprenticeships, however, should not be limited to litigation and similar court-focused proceedings. Legislative work is legal work.
Legislatures are the primary authors of the law. Often, they can solve problems faster and better than litigation. And yet, as my research has demonstrated, there is a profound lack of legislative work experience within the legal profession. Law clerkships in legislatures and other legislative apprenticeships are important steps toward a profession better trained in how the law is actually created and practiced.
DAKOTA S. RUDESILL
Washington, Feb. 18, 2013
The writer is a visiting professor and the interim director at the Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic of the Georgetown University Law Center.
To the Editor:
As a student at Central Michigan University who wishes to attend law school, I was told by an adviser, a retired attorney, to avoid getting an internship at a law firm. She said: "You will become very good at making photocopies and getting into courthouses, and you will learn nothing of real value. It probably won't look very good on a résumé, either, because most law schools will know you were just a mule." Why is this?
Perhaps part of alleviating the shortage of competent defenders is in firms' taking the time to educate students on the practicalities of the profession before they even enter law school.
Treating interested undergraduates like apprentices would go a long way toward preparing talented students and deterring those not cut out for the profession before they accrue tens of thousands of dollars in debt. BEN HARRISMount Pleasant, Mich., Feb. 18, 2013
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