Legal education in the U.S. needs a Superhero.
The model for that could be the law sector analogue of a Chris Whittle. As THE ECONOMIST reports, Whittle is overseeing the creation of a new kind of private school. Called "Avenues: The World School" and based in Manhattan its mission is to prepare young children for a global economy.
It breaks away from what Whittle describes as a "stale curriculum." For example, instead of waiting until the age 11 to teach a child a foreign language, it starts on day one of schooling. Half the lessons are in Mandarin or Spanish. The expectation is that the child will be bilingual. Another introduction is that students will be able to study in any of the 700 proposed branches of the school around the world. That means Amy from Manhattan can matriculate, without red tape hassle such as losing credits, in China. Clearly the graduates of this approach have an advantage.
Whittle's model is based on the free market, that is, he's out to make a profit. This is for-profit education. No reasonable person would expect current legal education to flee nonprofit academia and become primarily a for-profit institution. However, many who are very disappointed in the training in current law schools and in the job placement outcomes could form a committee of influentials to make law school align with the realities of the second decade of the 21st century. Meanwhile, law school deans and the American Bar Association should monitor how Whittle is doing.
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