Adam, good question. I gather that the multistate performance test portion of the bar requires a functional process that is somewhat similar to the actual practice of law. If that process could be broken down and taught in units, I think it could be similar to a clinical experience, but without the added dynamics of direct client contact. However, I think that there are some longstanding and well-ingrained views that will continue to work against (both actively and through inertia) an integration of clinical-type experience and subject matter coursework, at least in the near future. For one, it’s less threatening to the structure of the regular curriculum and the teachers who teach it to keep the clinics and externships as separate entities apart from the subject-matter classes. Plus, the image of a law school as being a professional graduate experience would be threatened by the integration of classes that would likely be viewed as more vocational and technical in nature. I also think that the legal industry has always assumed, if not accepted, that people come out of law school with not much practical experience, so firms understand that the practicum learning curve continues alongside the learning curve associated with the subject matter that makes up your eventual area of expertise.

Although I’ve obviously never taken a clinic, I gather that the additional dimension of direct client contact in clinics is very helpful and eye-opening. But if you are going into private practice at a firm, and you end up doing little if any pro bono work, then client interactions are largely a moot point in the beginning (you will probably at most sit in on conference calls). And once client contact becomes a part of your day, you will probably find that, at least in private practice, the nature of your interaction with clients and the needs of those clients are very different from the needs of and interactions with clinical and externship clients. Keep in mind that my perspective is heavily influenced by large (400-attorney), non-national Midwest firm culture (basically what Makalika refers to in the “Questions that Need Answers” thread), so you should take all the above with that backdrop in mind, although I still think my points are basic enough that they are applicable to national markets as well.

-- BarbPitman - 23 Apr 2008