National Jurist - January 2009 - (Page 32)

FREDERICK SCHAUER DAVID AND MARY HARRISON DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL “I think for many years a great deal of legal thinking and legal scholarship has been skeptical about the importance of rules, the value of rules, the desirability of rules and the possibility of rules,” said Frederick Schauer, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia Law School. As the convention goes, rules get in the way. But a fair amount of Schauer’s writing is about being supportive of rules. “Rules are taken more seriously now than they were in the 1960s, 70s and 80s,” he added. “My position has been considerably more pro-rule than is common.” Not one to conform to the norm, Schauer has always been a bit willing to “The system is relaxing some, but it’s certainly heading in the right direction now,” he said. Over the last number of years, the ALDA has been urging the ABA to change its standards from requiring certain items to measuring the quality of education they are receiving. The ABA currently enforces a ‘onesize-fits-all’ model of legal education, Van Zandt said during a recent ALDA meeting. “The ABA standards should permit a law school to pursue its own mission in any way that it deems appropriate so long as it meets the minimum requirements of providing a sound legal education,” he said. “ALDA does not believe that the standards should dictate that a law school have a particular mission or provide a legal education in a specified way as long as the legal education that the law school provides is a sound legal education.” He continues to follow the market of legal education — where it is currently and where it’s going. “Over next 10-20 years, you’re going to see a few law schools around the world that really produce the best,” Van Zandt said. “That’s going to be because local regulation and qualification is going to be less important.” DAVID VAN ZANDT DEAN AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL A true iconoclast who goes against the grain in a good way. That’s how John Garvey, president of the Association of American Law Schools, describes David Van Zandt. Van Zandt, dean of Northwestern University School of Law, has been marching full steam ahead since being appointed dean in 1995. With the law school’s newest endeavor, “Plan 2008: Preparing Great Leaders for the Changing World,” it aims to ensure that graduates are better prepared for multi-job career success than those from any other law school. It’s an update to a 1998 plan, in which the goal was to empower graduates to adapt to a changing world. “We certainly are focused on globalization and to work effectively in a globalizing world,” Van Zandt said. “That’s going to be a big issue out there.” In fall 2009, Northwestern will become the first Top Tier law school to offer an accelerated, two-year J.D. Southwestern Law School has offered a two-year program since 1974, and the University of Dayton School of Law began offering a program in 2005. While the two-year option will have the same curriculum as the traditional program, Van Zandt said that to be admitted to it, applicants will be required to have two or three years of “substantive work experience” after college. While this is typical of Northwestern law admissions, it is not a requirement for the three-year program. People with work experience are likely to have “the good time management” necessary, he said. Northwestern hopes to admit 25-40 students into a two-year program next year. Prior to joining the Northwestern faculty, Van Zandt was an associate with Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. He graduated from Yale Law School and earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is an expert in corporate law and international finance and teaches courses in international financial markets, business associations, property, practical issues in business law and legal realism. He has published articles and written and presented papers on the regulation of international financial markets, the sociology of religion and deviance, social theory, the economics of common sense and strategic planning in legal education. As current president of the American Law Deans Association, Van Zandt is working to get more flexibility in the American Bar Association’s accreditation system. 32 THE NATIONAL JURIST January 2009 PHOTO BY PETER BARRERAS

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of National Jurist - January 2009

National Jurist - January 2009 Contents Hot Button: Affirmative Action Entertainment: A Road Trip Through Law School News: American Justice, Kaplan Survey, Part-time Ranking The Firm Report: Diversity Law School Online No label No label Fordham Student Honored for Public Interest Work Former Law Student's Life Lives on After Her Death Most Influential People in Legal Education Most Innovative Law Schools Your Guide to Studying Abroad Career Hotline Texas Tech Law Grads Explore Dispute Resolution Evaluating First-Year Exams Disturbing the Peace

National Jurist - January 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.