Admit One: Vault's MBA, Law School and College Blog

Who's to Blame for Bored Law Students?

Recipe for a lively discussion: equal parts law school students, professors and donors with a healthy dose of open bar. From the t14 law student blog:

"As the dessert carts came out, though, one of the donors asked me how I was enjoying law school, so I said, as nicely as possible, 'I'm a little bored but everyone tells me that exams are pretty intense.'

"Of course, the donors were like WTFWAT!? They posited that law school, with its archaic focus on extremely broad topics and one test per semester structure, was [expletive] retarded. They spoke about not learning a single thing in their third year and having no clue how to practice at graduation. Why should the students care about the work if it brings no utility?"

Although the blogger is telling the story for its humor value, the debate waged while eating cheesecake at the law school event is much larger, with critics and experts on both sides weighing in. Does law school's format inhibit students' ability to be engaged and learn the skills they need to succeed in their future careers? And, if the law school format is "broken," who's to blame? The professors who teach overly theoretical material or the law firm recruiters who make students too career focused? And once we've assigned the blame, where do we go from there? In this case, perhaps that's home to sleep it off.