National Jurist - February 2008 - (Page 4) FREESPEECH How law school sucks the passion out of students An unhappy law grad recently placed his law degree from DePaul University for sale on eBay with a starting bid for $100,000. “Why am I selling this great item?” he asked in his listing. “Because it has been nothing but a curse and aggravation in my life. This degree has been a great invitation to work at least 60 hours a week at a place where I don’t want to be for people that I don’t care about ” The lawyer was obviously poking fun at his unhappiness. But the frustration he expressed by placing such an ad is real among many lawyers today. The big salary, the big house and the fancy cars just don’t fill the vacuum in people’s lives. What is missing is passion – passion for social justice and passion for helping people. But most dissatisfied attorneys don’t start law school that way. Every year, law students enter law school filled with passion. Every year graduates take jobs that don’t help them pursue that passion. This past year, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching issued a report on legal education that offered some sobering findings. It concluded that it is the law school experience itself that sucks the passion out of law students. Law students who want to make the world a better place slowly lose their idealism as they “learn to think like a lawyer” through courses that teach through the Socratic method and focus on laws rather than the purpose for those laws. The fact that many law students never interact with clients, even mock clients, further disassociates the student from the purpose of helping people. The focus for most students winds up on the competition to get the best grades and to land the best job and away from helping people or society. William Sullivan, a senior scholar with the Carnegie Foundation explained recently that this is in line with a general principle that “extrinsic motivations drive out intrinsic motivations.” In the case of law school, when legal education — whether intentionally or not, focuses on top grades and high-paying jobs (extrinsic motivations) — the desire to help people and society (intrinsic motivations) is pushed aside. And yet, research shows that the very best in any given profession — the true problem solvers — are driven by intrinsic motivations. Sullivan urges law schools to find ways to nurture their student’s idealism — to help them help people. When students understand the needs of their community — the larger purpose — they are more likely to retain their passion. “What is law really about?” Sullivan said. “Social justice. Law schools need to understand that intrinsic value will lead to better students and better lawyers.” Pro bono, clinical work and courses focused on justice rather than law are all ways to nurture idealism. And law schools are starting to pay attention and experiment with the basic legal education model. It is our mission at The National Jurist magazine to further help with • We incorrectly reported where this effort. We aim to help you disMarc Randazza is a law profescover your passion, enflame that sor in the story “AutoAdmit.com spirit and select the legal career that lawsuit revisited.” Randazza is will help you best achieve your pasa professor at Barry University sion. School of Law in Orlando, Fla. We are doing this through profiles of enthusiastic young attorneys • We incorrectly reported where and law students and features on Rebecca O’Neill is a law student the core barriers that preclude lawin the story “Justice in the wake yers from following their passion. It of genocide.” O’Neill is a student is our hope that you will leave law at the University of Louisville school with the ability and opporSchool of Law in Louisville, Ky. tunity to make this world a better place. • We incorrectly reported that So, go find your passion, take George Mason University risks and live a meaningful life in is a faith-based law school in the pursuit of justice. And then we the story “Most Political Law will tell your story. Schools.” George Mason is a Jack Crittenden public law school. Editor-In-Chief The National Jurist We blew it www.NJPLonline.com Editorial Team Jack Crittenden Editor-in-Chief Michelle Weyenberg Associate Editor Jon Peters Student Editor Keith Carter Copy Editor Jim Dunlap Copy Editor Ursula Furi-Perry Career Editor Shannon Harrington Art Director Melissa Stottlemyer Photo Editor Zac Scuffham Web Designer Publishing Team Katina Cavagnaro Publisher Mike Wright National Accounts Manager Mindy Palmer Account Representative Mike Burke Accountability & Circulation Manager Reprints Please call FosteReprints at 1-866-879-9144 Contact Information P.O. Box 939039 San Diego, Calif. 92193-9039 Tel: 1-800-296-9656 Fax: 1-858-503-7588 Entire contents copyright © 2008 Cypress Magazines. All rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. 4 THE NATIONAL JURIST February 2008 http://AutoAdmit.com http://www.njplonline.com
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