The American Statistical Association's recommendations for statistical instruction in legal education are summarized, including notes on the need for such education, existing programs for law students and practicing attorneys, emphasis on comprehension rather than production of statistical analysis, and statistics training program content. (MSE)

Discusses needs for specialist certification and training in lawyering skills proposing a 3-year legal education program to include two years in a law school and one in a lawyer school which would be operated by the organized bar. (JT)

An American Bar Association task force report on the role of legal educators is discussed by its chairman. Principal concepts and recommendations are outlined, and criticisms are examined. Focus is on the continuum of skill and value development that begins before law school and continues through the lawyer's professional career. (MSE)

Current issues concerning the American Bar Association's stated accrediting standards are discussed, including: involvement of the bench, professional responsibility as part of the curriculum, foreign study credit, libraries and their funding, affirmative action, peer review, faculty responsibility, faculty compensation, residence and attendance,…

Two positions on the issue of legal education regulation are described: that regulation assures quality and protects the public; and that legal education should be completely deregulated, allowing any school to become a law school and anyone to practice law. A middle ground is advocated, abolishing accreditation but retaining bar examinations.…

A recently published Association of American Law Schools manual addressing the complex role of the modern law school dean, intended for prospective deans, search committee members, and central administrators, is discussed. An excerpt gives an overview of the manual's direction and scope, and topics covered in the manual are listed. (MSE)

The development of law school teaching as a profession in its own right, apart from that of lawyers and judges, and its relationship to the history of legal education in the United States are discussed. (MSE)

There is a direct connection between quality legal education and an ambience encouraging full and free idea exchange, and an intellectually diverse law school community is necessary for that kind of exchange. The extent to which a church-related law school's religious goals should be permitted to infringe on this is crucial to its professional…

A recent American Bar Association report (the MacCrate Report), a comprehensive study of lawyers' educational and professional development needs, is discussed. The report strongly supports practical legal skills training as part of legal education. Implications for current law school curriculum and operations are examined. (MSE)

Mediation, as distinguished from arbitration or negotiation, is likely to emerge in a law school's curriculum only if a faculty member wishes to teach it, but a trend toward inclusion is growing and leadership is being provided by individuals, professional organizations, institutions, and research groups. (MSE)

Issues in developing tensions between some universities and the law schools within their walls over accreditation practices, philosophy, and standards are discussed: accreditation objectives; institutional autonomy in relation to component schools and programs; and maintenance of accredited status versus program improvement at university cost.…

The process by which the American Association of Law Schools created its policy on racial discrimination in legal education is chronicled from 1950 to 1963, focusing on its initial resolution in 1950, a 1951 special committee report, and adoption of a revised resolution banning discrimination on the basis of race or color in 1951. (MSE)

A 1996 Association of American Law Schools survey of 83 institutions investigated recent developments in course and seminar additions to the law school curriculum. Results are reported here, including an analysis of the 25 most popular areas for curricular innovation and a dozen fields in which new courses were less common. Trends are identified…

A report of the American Bar Association's section of legal education and admission to the bar on law school accreditation covers historical background of the association's role, the accreditation process, standards (financial support, salary structure, libraries, student faculty ratio), and centralization of the accrediting function. (MSE)

Today's law school retains the basic characteristics of the elite economic model established in 1922, despite considerable economic and social change. The near future will probably intensify interest in legal education, and the original goals and structure such as noncommerciality and full-time faculty should be remembered. (MSE)