In the U.S., thousands of graduate school applicants sit each year for one or more of the standardized tests that most universities require as part of their admissions process. One of them, the Law School Admission Test, known as the LSAT, measures the reading comprehension and verbal reasoning skills of hopeful attorneys-to-be — yielding results that purport to predict success in law school and in practice later.
But does the LSAT in fact measure the right stuff?
Researchers at the UC-Berkeley School of Law think that they have identified tests more accurate than the LSAT, according to a report by Petra Pasternak published at Law.com, “Berkeley Wants Research on LSAT Alternatives to Go National“. According to Pasternak,
Roughly 10 years have passed since Berkeley law professor Marjorie Shultz set out to find a more complete way to test students for admission to law school. This fall, she and Berkeley psychology professor Sheldon Zedeck have wrapped up their findings in a 100-page report, now available on the law school’s Web site. They say the LSAT, with its focus on cognitive skills, does not measure for skills such as creativity, negotiation, problem-solving or stress management, but that they have found promising new and existing tests from the employment context that do…
Jeffrey Brand, dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law, said that the research is welcome. Brand…said that passing the bar exam is clearly important.
“But we also need lawyers with the kind of skill sets that the world needs — like empathy, persuasiveness and the willingness to have the courage to do the right thing — which the LSAT does not measure,” Brand said.
Proponents of alternatives to the LSAT will no doubt have tough negotiations ahead of them as they endeavor to persuade the legal community of the merits of utilizing other measurement tools to predict effectiveness in law school and beyond. I wish them success: the legal profession and the public it serves can only benefit from this closer inquiry into what it takes to be an effective lawyer today.
Now available online is the latest edition of The Complete Lawyer, a web-based magazine focusing on quality of life and career satisfaction for attorneys, along with its special ADR column, “The Human Factor“. This issue of The Complete Lawyer discusses “The Brave New World of Associates.” Articles include “Jettison the Myth of Individualism“, reflecting on the importance of building social capital.
“The Human Factor” focuses on ADR from the perspective of four attorneys who mediate – me and three colleagues, Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg and Brains on Purpose, Gini Nelson of Engaging Conflicts, and Victoria Pynchon of Settle It Now Negotiation Blog.
After writing the first three columns together, each of us will now solo, starting with Gini Nelson, who takes this issue of “The Human Factor” to discuss how “Joining A New Firm Is Like Traveling To A Foreign Country“. Then it’ll be my turn for the following issue.
The Complete Lawyer is published by Don Hutcheson, who has been an enthusiastic supporter of “The Human Factor” from the beginning. Thanks, Don, for being such a good friend to the four of us.
Someone called me the other day to ask me to recommend them a lawyer. After describing to me the issues at stake, they said, “I want a real pitbull — someone who’ll go straight for the jugular and show no mercy.”
Believe me, a pitbull was not what this particular case warranted. It’s too bad that so many people think that’s what they need in a lawyer. Not a principled defender of justice, nor a skilled negotiator who can broker a winning deal, nor a charismatic leader who can influence others. Thanks to the media, which rarely depict this side of lawyering, most people fail to see, let alone celebrate, the art in the lawyer’s craft.
J. Kim Wright, who describes herself as a “pioneer, catalyst and leader in a new paradigm of law”, has launched CuttingEdgeLaw.com, an online community and magazine that seeks to show lawyers in a very different light:
Rather than focusing on the latest litigation victories and defeats, we will focus on the roles of lawyers as healers, peacemakers, problem-solvers, and champions for justice. We aren’t looking for the “Super Lawyers” who made $6MM on moving money between two behemoth corporations over a technicality but rather the lawyer who healed a conflict between two parents in a custody dispute or a lawyer who helped a murderer come face to face with the family of his victim and give them the gift of a sincere apology. We’re here to support the explorations and promote the most workable and inspiring options for the legal system. Imagine the legal system as a resource for creating whole, vibrant, loving communities? If we transform our practices, how do we reach clients? How do we earn a living on healing and peace-making when the world is used to viewing lawyers as a polarizing force?
CuttingEdgeLaw.com is still under construction, so not all links on the site are operational. In the meantime, however, you can view video interviews with lawyers who are themselves leaders in the “new paradigm of law”.
A big hat tip to Stephanie West Allen for alerting readers to the launch of this site and Wright’s work.
The latest issue of The Complete Lawyer, an online journal focusing on quality of life and career satisfaction for attorneys, is now available — and along with it, its special ADR column, “The Human Factor“. This issue of The Complete Lawyer asks, “What’s your exit strategy?” and looks at how best to plan financially and emotionally for retirement.
“The Human Factor“ focuses on ADR from the perspective of four attorneys who mediate – me and my three extraordinary colleagues, Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg and Brains on Purpose, Gini Nelson of Engaging Conflicts, and Victoria Pynchon of Settle It Now Negotiation Blog.
This time in “The Human Factor” the four of us discuss “What we have learned from mediation and negotiation that can have very broad application in your life and work“.
The Complete Lawyer is published by Don Hutcheson, to whom the four of us owe a debt of gratitude for allowing us a forum for our ideas. Thanks, Don.
Brevity, said the Bard, is the soul of wit.
If you seek proof of the truth of that maxim, then look no further than What About Clients?, one of the very best of the legal blogs. Irreverent, edgy, and smart, with a keen international focus, What About Clients? has long made the case that in a flat world, savvy American lawyers eager to retain their competitive edge must look beyond U.S. borders and across the seas for news, ideas, and business.
Practicing what it preaches, WAC? recently assumed a new name (What About Paris?) and a new slogan (“News and ideas on clients, customers, business and law around the globe”). What remains unchanged of course are the crisp writing, dangerously sharp ideas, and the extensive list of international blogs in the site’s sidebars.
