The Washington herald., 1915-09-11

any other law school in the country.
Case Method Most Practical and
Scientific Method.
The aim of modern legal education q
the best law schools aim to conduct It ID
not the acquisition Of rules as facts by
memorizing, but mental discipline and
training In legal reasoning, accompanied
by a thorough knowledge and under
standing Of fundamental legal principles
! ! and the reasons underlying them; not
knowledge alone. but the power to solve
legal problems, the faculty sometimes
/ called a legal mind" The modern law
| school is not a school for craftsmen but
for scientists. The George Washington
University Law School endeavors to
| maintain these univeraity ideals In legal
| education.
The experience of the past twenty-five
years has demonstrated that the best
and most scientific legal training can
be obtained by study under what Is pop
ularly known as the case method" At
George Washington the topics Of SUBJ
stanttve law are taught by this method.
The students are required to read and
digest the reports of leading cases decid-
ed by the ablest judges of America and
England, and are taught to analyze and
distinguish them, working out the fun
damental principles with the help of the
free discussion in the classroom Their
serious professional work thus begins in
the law school, for the methods Of analy-
sis and discussion are fundamentally
those they must employ after beginning
actual practice. Thus they are given the
best theoretical and tine most practical
training at the same tim,. No system
has yet been devised So successful for
the training Of students in correct meth
DDS of legal study and reasoning, while
at the same time imparting a firm grasp
of fundamental legal principles. At the
request Of and under the auspices of the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advance
ment of Teaching. Prof. Josef Redlich,
professor of law in the University Of
Vienna. has recently completed an in
vestigation of the methods of instruction
in American law schools and in his re-
port published last year by the founda-
ton he highly commends the ease meth
od." In the report he makes the fol-
lowing statement: LAS the method was
developed. 1t laid the main emphasis
upon precisely that aspect of the train
ing. which the older textbook school en-
tirely neglected; the training Of the stu
dent In Intellectual independence. In the
fact that it has actually accomplished
this purpose>lies the great success Of the
Ease luc case HcllOu HdS now
become an accepted fact in American
legal education. and is used in over so
per cent of the leading law schools which
comprise the Association of American
Law Schools.
Instruction by Resident Professors.
The development of legal education to
a professional and university basis has
been marked by steady increase in the
number in instructors devoting their en-
tire time to law teaching. In the George
Washington University Law School most
of the courses in substantive law, dealing
with fundamental principles and legal
theories. are in charge of such instruc-
tors. These men have been trained in
the best modern law schools. and in ac-
cordance with the most widely approved
methods. They devote their entire time
to teaching and research, and can thus |
lay emphasis upon methods of instruc- |
ton as well as upon the subject matter. |
They have Offices at the school and are
accessible to the students daily for con-
sultation and individual assistance.
in Practice . Feature.
Besides aiming to develop in the stu
dents the legal mind" which Is the aim
of modern legal training the law school
endeavors to give as much instruction
as Is practicable in procedure and prac-l
tice. The adjective law courses In pro-
cedure evidence. legal tactics and ethics,
brief making, preparation of legal instru-
ments, organization Of corporations and
moot court, dealing with the practical
application Of the legal principles taught
in the other classes are in charge Of
judges and lawyers in active practice.
Particular emphasis Is laid upon moot
court, in the three branches of which.
equity circuit and criminal, every third
year student is required to try, several
cases to a conclusion in accordance with
the rules Of legal procedure. This court
has been successfully operated for over
:wenty years, and has been chosen as q
model by several other law schools.
To supplement the instruction in prac-
ice there is conducted at the school un-
Ter faculty supervision, the Legal Aid
Society, which furnishes legal advice
without charge TO needy persons. Mem
oership In this is restricted to students
who have made a high record for schol-
lrship.
Success Of Graduates.
The results of the efforts Of the faculty I
o maintain high standards and to re- I
luire thorough PREPARATION and of the
Methods of instruction, which have for
icii oLiii lH6 ucNciOplLcHI III lirC Slu-
ents Of intellectual power and independ- !
nee Of thought as we'll as the acquisition
# knowledge, should appear in the pro-
uct, the graduates. Their remarkable
uccess at the bar examinations is a mat
er of pride and qualification to the fac
llty. In the District Of Columbia from
to IS per cent of all applicants for ad-
mission to the bar fail, yet during the !
ast eight years over IS per cent Of all
raduates OF George Washington Univer-
ity Law School taking these examina- a
ions have passed. At the examinations I
eld <last June while near 81 per cent Of I
II applicants not George Washington i
raduates failed to pass, every one Of q
he twenty-five graduates Of the school, {
tho took the examination was success i
ul. In other jurisdictions a high record
also maintained In the examinations 7
Or admission to the bar Of the State Of q
Wisconsin held last January, when only =
ineteen out of fifty-six applicants i
assed, a graduate of George Washing n
IN Law School made the highest mark n
( all. No special emphasis is laid upon
reparation for the bar examinations in b
MS or any other Jurisdiction. but the n
tudent receives such general training in Fl
lethods, such a thorough knowledge Of
gar principles and such power to think 8
learly and straight along legal lines, j
nat the graduate can readily prepare 4
imself for the bar examination and for Z
ractice in any common law jurisdiction. t
Y Vashington Preparatory :