The Washington herald., 1917-09-17

Is tne oruest law school In the Dis
trict of Columbia. On Wednesday.
September Is, it begins its fifty
| third year of continuous session.
The course of study prepares for
the practice of law in any English
speaking jurisdiction. and is all the
1 professional study required for ad-
mission to the bar examinations OF
any State. In the enrolment for
| 1916-1917 there were students from
| almost every part of the country.
and graduates of sixty-six col
leges and universities. The school
has conferred over 1000 degrees
/ since it's founding. 1t has grad
! yates practicing in every State of
the Union, many of whom have held
high office in public life.
During the period of the war the
school will discontinue its forenoon
classes, but the complete afternoon
| curriculum will be given with op-
I tional early morning electives. The
| afternoon classes will be held from
| s to $40 and at these classes.
which are available to employed
! students, all of the work necessary
| for the degree may be taken. The
! optional morning classes will be
held from 1850 to $40 before the
! beginning of regular office hours
in the government service and in
private offices.
Hours Are Advantageous.
The hours at which the classes are
held is one of the most advantageous
features of the school Employed stu
dents by attending classes Immediate
ly after the close OF office hours finish
their class work for the day by $40
o'clock. This arrangement Of hours
virtually gives them day law school
facilities. II economies their time.
utilizing hours of the day often vast
ed and gives them the opportunity
for careful, uninterrupted study dur
/ ing the early hours of the evening
study very essential to the success OF
proper legal training and not possible
where classes are held at night.
The school has been member of
the Association of American Law
Schools since the association was or
ganized in 1900. This association,
composed of forty-eight leading law
schools. aims to maintain high stand
ards of legal education. Member
schools are required to comply with
the associations standards of equip
ment, entrance and course. Work
done in these schools is given a maxi
mum of credit for advanced standing
by law schools in the several States.
| This credit Is a great advantage to
! students who may desire to take part
| of their course in Washington and to
| complete II or to pursue graduate
! studies in other jurisdictions. The
school is the only member of the as
! sociation in the District of Columbia.
! The school Accommodations include
three large recitation halls. moot court
rooms, offices of the resident profess
sors. a students room and n large
| library room containing over 1000 vol
umes. The library and students room
are open from $50 to 10 p. m.
The thorough preparation. earnest
ness and maturity Of the students of
| the Law School make one of its chief
attractions. In 1867 of the candi-
dates for degrees, 50 per cent were coll
lege trained and 10 Of them were COL
lege graduates. The average age was
2S years. that of the first year class
being % years. The training and
maturity of the students enables the
instruction to be put on a high plane.
The aim of the Law School is not
primarily to impart information but TO
train its students in correct methods
of legal study and reasoning. About
three-fourths of the subjects are
taught by the analytic study of decided
cases. .elucidated by free discussion in
the class. The early cases establish
ing a principle are analyzed, and the
prin nciple is traced through modifying
decisions down to its latest applica-
tions. The historical development OF
the law is thus seen. its basic rea-
sons understood and the principles
| mastered. The students mind is
trained and quickened by the study of
the opinions of the ablest judges of
England and America. The student fol-
lows from the day he enters the school
the methods which he must use after
he goes into practice. He finds the
law for himself. deducing the prin-
ciples from their source in the cases,
making his own generalizations, aid
ed by the instructors criticism. He
acquires a mental power and grasp
not attainable by any other method.
The case method is used in nearly all
of the schools in the Association Of
American Law Schools.
Carnegie Foundation Approved.
! VI mas
the request of the American Bar As
ISOLATION. been thoroughly investigat-
ed under the auspices of the Car
negie Foundation for the Advance
ment of Teaching. In its report pub
lished in 1914, the foundation highly
commends the case method. In the
report the following statement was
made:
las the method was developed. 1t
laid the main emphasis upon precise
ly that aspect of the training which
the older text books school entirely
neglected-the training of the student
in intellectual independence; in in
dividual thinking; in digging out the
principles through penetrating an
alysis of the material found within
separate cases-material which con-
tains, all mixed in with one another,
both the facts as life creates them,
which generate the law and at the
|