Teaching “Good Work” in the Law
Publication Date
7-4-2020
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
Sturm College of Law
Keywords
Public interest, Legal ethics, Legal profession, Sociology
Abstract
Using a variety of methods and comparing over time and across national contexts, I have been studying how initially idealistic law students tend to drift away from the public-interest values and career aspirations that drew them to law school. This drift appears to be influenced by a range of factors—among them, financial considerations, law school peer culture, traditional legal pedagogy, the law-firm recruiting process, and the limited availability of jobs in full-time public interest legal practice. Law schools cannot easily control all of these factors, but I do believe that we can develop curriculum to help reduce this drift effect.
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Recommended Citation
John Bliss, Teaching “Good Work” in the Law, Harv. Graduate Sch. Educ.: The Good Project (July 4, 2020), https://www.thegoodproject.org/good-blog/2020/7/4/teaching-good-work-in-the-law.