Logic and Experience The Origin of Modern American Legal Education

by Lapiana, William P.

• ISBN13: 9780195079357
• ISBN10: 0195079353
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-01-20
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The 19th century saw dramatic changes in the legal education system in the United States. Before the Civil War, lawyers learned their trade primarily through apprenticeship and self-directed study. By the end of the 19th century, the modern legal education system which was developed primarily by Dean Christopher Langdell at Harvard was in place: a bachelor's degree was required for admission to the new model law school, and a law degree was promoted as the best preparation for admission to the bar. William P. LaPiana provides an in-depth study of the intellectual history of the transformation of American legal education during this period. In the process, he offers a revisionist portrait of Langdell, the Dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1900, and the earliest proponent for the modern method of legal education, as well as portraying for the first time the opposition to the changes at Harvard.

Author Biography

William P. LaPiana is the Rita and Joseph Solomon Professor of Wills, Trusts and Estates at New York Law School.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
Harvard's Transformation	p. 7
Appointing a Dean	p. 7
Developing a Law School	p. 14
Birth of the Case Method	p. 22
Antebellum Legal Education	p. 29
A Science of Principles	p. 29
A Practical Science of Procedure	p. 38
Education in Legal Science	p. 44
Case Method and Legal Science	p. 55
A Science of Narrow Rules	p. 55
A Technical Science of Contracts and Equity	p. 58
Changes in Procedure and Legal Thought	p. 70
Harvard and the Legal World	p. 79
The Struggle for Standards in New York	p. 79
Case Method Comes to Columbia	p. 92
Case Method and Practice	p. 99
A New Legal Science	p. 110
Fact-Based Legal Science	p. 110
Harvard Teachers and Positive Law	p. 122
Opposition	p. 132
The Case Lawyer	p. 132
The Evils of Positivism	p. 138
Reconciliation	p. 148
The Spread of the Case Method	p. 148
The Failure of Sociological Jurisprudence	p. 152
The American Law Institute	p. 158
The Coming of Realism	p. 164
Epilogue	p. 168
Notes	p. 171
Bibliography	p. 221
Index	p. 243
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