It is the goal of the College of Law to provide students with the knowledge and training necessary to meet this wide range of professional responsibilities. Attaining this goal requires that students secure a broad and basic knowledge of legal principles, understand the social and economic factors underlying these principles, and learn to judge the effectiveness of these principles in solving client and societal problems. Technical skills, incisive analytical abilities, and communication skills must be developed. Law students must also acquire a high sense of professional and public responsibility. Many of our courses are taught by the case method, using reported decisions of appellate courts as the principal materials for study.
Classes generally follow a discussion rather than a lecture format.
While methods vary a good deal from professor to professor, a Socratic dialogue between professor and student is the tradition. The case method is increasingly being supplemented by other methods of instruction such as problem solving and role simulation. Some courses are designed to give students experience in legal research and writing, trial practice and appellate advocacy, and drafting of legal instruments. Clinical programs provide opportunities for interviewing, client counseling, and the development of courtroom skills. A modern building completed in 1977 and the law library addition completed in 1993 incorporate the best features of current law school design, resulting in a superb environment for the study of law.