法学院能为法律人的养成贡献什么

What the Law Schools Can Contribute to the Making of Lawyers

关于法律教育的目标,存在四种相互竞争的观念。它们分别是:为学生提供成为一个法律人所需要的知识;工作分析或技能分析;揭示伟大的思想和传达对法律人所参与的过程的一种理解。但是,这四种观念中的任何一个均不能被视为一种组织开展法律教育的排他性标准。法律教育的目的应当在于传达对司法和立法等两个基本过程的理解。不仅不应忽略了立法过程,还应在课程安排上专注于立法和审判的主要运作方法,并从它们最基本的形式入手。同时,法学院对学生的训练应该指向那些综合了法律与法律之外各种因素的问题之解决。只有在案例教学法的精神指导下,与学生们一起探索法律人-客户关系的相关要求,才能使学生充分意识到法律职业所应承担的社会责任。

There are four competing conceptions of the objectives of legal education. The four conceptions are: the giving to the student the knowledge he needs to be a lawyer, job analysis or skill-breakdown, the exposure to great minds and the conveying of an understanding of the processes in which the lawyer participates. But any of these conceptions could be treat as an exclusive standard for the organization of legal education. The purpose of legal education should be that of conveying an understanding of the basic processes in adjudication and legislation. The legislative process could not be neglected, and its curriculum should concentrate on the major ways in which legislation and adjudication function, and start with the processes in their most elementary form. Moreover,the student’ s training in law school should be directed toward the solution of problems that involve a synthesis of legal and extra-legal considerations. Only in the spirit of the case method, exploring with our students the demands of the lawyer-client relationship, could make them sufficiently conscious of the social responsibilities of the legal profession.