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LawCrossing Feature
What They Don’t Tell Students at Law School Part-1 This series of articles is based upon the outstanding works of Lawrence S. Krieger, Clinical Professor and Director of Clinical Externship Programs at the Florida State University College of Law. Mr. Krieger has been teaching in the area of personal development and stress management for more than a quarter of a century. This series of articles borrows heavily the concepts from his “What We’re Not Telling Law Students - and Lawyers - That They Really Need to Know: Some Thoughts-in-Action toward Revitalizing the Profession from Its Roots,” Journal of Law and Health 13.1 (1998), and his paper “Psychological Insights: Why Our Students and Graduates Suffer, And What We Might Do About It,” Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, Vol.1.(2002).
Krieger holds very rightly, “while more overt
This does not work, and this is ‘unrealistic’ because law
“professionalism” problems are commonly discussed
students have the right and opportunity to cease to be
today, most teachers never address the questions of
lawyers, but they cannot cease to be humans as long
well-being or career satisfaction. This is particularly
as they live. Actually, what happens is that huge law
troubling given the intensely elevated levels of a broad
school student loans that can result in felony if unpaid
range of psychological symptoms among law students
become the prior concern weighing in on the minds of
and lawyers, and of career dissatisfaction, substance
students to the exclusion of all else. Students cannot
abuse, and suicide among lawyers.” (Krieger, 2002)
be blamed if they put such priorities first. What is to be seen is whether such choices to incur huge loans and
It is deemed to be ‘realistic’ that law schools and law
relegate human values and priorities to the backseat
firms should focus on external rewards such as high
are at all sane choices or choices propelled by the belief
grades and salaries, on gaining image and status
that ‘everything’ can be purchased by money.
through an established hiring process culminating in partnership positions at law firms, and on impressing
The answer is blowing in the wind, of course, for
others. But in truth, this approach is so ‘unrealistic’
applicants for LSAT have dropped by at least 16%,
that it leaves out the most important considerations
law schools are being challenged for their employment
in the lives of human beings and social persons – the
data, and students are refusing to buy into those huge
importance of relationships, the crucial nature of
debts already. Law schools are being forced to cut down
inherently enjoyable and meaningful pursuits, and the
class size, ostensibly to enhance quality of education,
achievement of fundamental human needs and goals.
though it is questionable as to why they did not focus on the quality enhancement until the number of LSAT
Law students are taught to be ‘lawyers’ and quite
applicants began to fall drastically. What is to be seen,
often forget what it is to be ‘human’ and develop
that whether the enhancement of quality touted by law
habits and routines that are professionally productive,
schools cutting down the sizes of their classes and in
but counterproductive to their fruitful existences as
other schools which are still maintaining their old class
humans. It is preached that since they joined law
sizes increase focus on the vital aspects of learning
schools to become lawyers, becoming a professional
that are being missed till now. That you go to a law
lawyer would automatically take care of all problems,
school to become a lawyer does not mean that you can
worries, equations, and aspects of human life that
refute your human needs that may not match with the
could possibly exist.
stereotype of a lawyer preached by the law school.
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