Implementing Best Practices and Educating Lawyers
Session 4 Workshops

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 – 3:00-4:15 p.m.

[A] The Subversive Art of Teaching Interviewing and Counseling

Joseph Shaub, University of Washington Law School

This approach to Interviewing and Counseling is termed "subversive" because, under the guise of a law school "skills" class, we can explore in a stimulating and supportive environment the humanity of both our clients and ourselves. Subjects of discussion include emotional literacy, tools for establishing empathic connection and students' emotional self-exploration. A central theme of the course invites the thoughtful consideration of students' own personal values and their impact on both their impressions of clients and the counseling they are able to provide. Student exercises, both in-class and homework, are described and demonstrated.

[B] A World of Yes: Using the Language of Cognitive Optimism to Help Students Achieve

Corie Rosen, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

Can simple changes in a professor's use of language reshape students' relationship to the academic environment? Can language help defeat depression and motivate students who feel helpless in the face of negative feedback or low grades? By applying flexible optimism in the classroom, integrating the language of cognitive optimism into lectures and feedback, professors can bring about these positive changes, helping students to realize their potential and, ultimately, reinvigorate their love of learning.

[C] Beyond the ADA: How Legal Skills Faculty Can Help Students with "Non-Visible" Disabilities Bridge the "Accommodations Gap" Between Law School and Legal Practice

Alexis Anderson and Norah Wylie, Boston College Law School

All too little attention has been given to the role of legal skills faculty in helping students with non-visible disabilities succeed as lawyers. Because the ADA clearly applies to law school clinics and legal practice classes, faculty need to develop tools for helping students with mental health issues and learning disabilities prepare for clinical and experiential learning. We plan to engage the audience in analysis of two case studies of law students with mental health and learning impairments to determine how we might best accommodate their needs.

[D] The Application of Student Development Theory in Legal Education: Using the Undergraduate Learning Environment Theories of Chickering, Reisser, and Gamson to Develop Law Students

Andrew Faltin, Marquette University Law School

Diverse law student backgrounds make designing student development programs challenging. Chickering, Reisser, and Gamson proposed factors that enhance student learning environments and development:

  1. student/faculty interactions;
  2. student communities;
  3. student understanding of learning;
  4. prompt faculty feedback; 5) emphasis of time on task;
  5. communication of high expectations;
  6. respect for diverse learning styles;
  7. student understanding of institutional objectives;
  8. student understanding of the curriculum; and,
  9. collaborative student development programs between faculty and administration.

A discussion of those factors and their implementation in law schools will be followed by a group discussion of best practices.

[E] Life after Langdell: Uncasebooks and Active Learning in Upper Level Courses

Deborah Jones Merritt, Ric Simmons, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and Leah Christensen, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

If you don't spend time deriving rules from appellate opinions, what do you do in the classroom? This session will illustrate use of an "uncasebook", materials that teach without any appellate opinions. Participants will receive a sample chapter of Merritt & Simmons's novel Learning Evidence text. Professors Merritt, Simmons, and Christensen, who have all taught from the materials, will show how they use interactive exercises, simulations, and writing exercises to surpass the case method. Participants will contribute their own experiences and brainstorm approaches to life after Langdell in large upper level courses.