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Sharing the Responsibility for Legal Education Among the Law Schools, the Bar and the Bench

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclave Vice Chair William R. Rakes; the Honorable Cynthia D. Kinser, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, who was honorary chair; and Conclave Chair W. Taylor Reveley III.

The Section on the Education of Lawyers sponsored the 20th Anniversary Conclave on April 22 and 23, 2012, at The Boar’s Head Inn, in Charlottesville. The event provided a forum for the stakeholders in the three branches of legal education (the academy, the practicing bar and the bench) to review the current state of legal education generally; to discuss current trends and developments which have occurred in Virginia, and nationally, since 1992 when the VSB hosted the first conclave on legal education in the country; and to identify areas for improvement in legal education in Virginia in the next twenty years. Conclave 2012 was underwritten by a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation.  Participants included lawyers from across the state, legal educators from all eight law schools and judges from every level of the bench, including the seven justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia. (View details on page 41 of the June/July 2012 issue of Virginia Lawyer.)

The notebook materials distributed to all Conclave attendees is accessible on this site, including the reading materials pertaining to each of the four substantive panel discussions conducted during the two-day event. This site also includes the detailed substantive agenda, together with the transcripts from the panel discussions and presentations. The October 2012 issue of Virginia Lawyer features a summary of the proceedings.  See sidebar for this information.

2012 Conclave Planning Committee (PDF file)

2012 Participants (PDF file)
 

--- April 22, 2012 ---

view transcript of Day 1 of the Education Conclave (753 KB PDF)

WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS 

view transcript of Welcome and Opening Remarks (55 KB PDF)

W. Taylor Reveley III – Program Chair
President
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia

The Honorable Cynthia D. Kinser   
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Virginia
Pennington Gap, Virginia

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND REMARKS

view transcript of Historical Overview and Remarks (84 KB PDF)

William R. Rakes – Program Vice Chair
Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore LLP
Roanoke, Virginia

Reporter: Prof. Dale Margolin Cecka

PANEL I – HOW ARE LAW SCHOOLS ADDRESSING MAJOR CHANGES IN THE PRACTICE OF LAW AND IN ACCREDITING STANDARDS FOR LEGAL EDUCATION?

view transcript of Panel 1 (213 KB PDF)

What have been the major changes in these two aspects of the legal profession in the last generation? To what extent are law schools responding creatively and effectively to them?  Should law schools be doing more to prepare their graduates to practice law effectively from “day one” and to use their legal training productively in other careers?

Moderator:   W. Taylor Reveley III
President
College of William & Mary
Williamsburg, VA

Panelists:   Dean Jeffrey A. Brauch
Dean Davison Douglas
Tracy A. Giles
David C. Landin
Prof. A. Benjamin Spencer

Reporter: Prof. Margaret Ivey Bacigal

PANEL II - HOW SHOULD WE MEASURE PREPAREDNESS FOR ADMISSION TO THE BAR?

view transcript of Panel 2 (249 KB PDF)

To what extent do bar exams realistically capture competence for the practice of law?  How effectively, for instance, do they test an applicant’s capacity to write?   Do bar exams fail to take into account the contemporary reality that a rapidly growing number of lawyers have multi-state and international practices?  Can we justify any longer having 50 different bar exams and confronting applicants with the steep costs of application fees and bar prep courses?  Do the number and nature of tested subjects on bar exams constrain the capacity of law schools to reshape their curriculums to deal with contemporary needs in the profession, for instance, skills education?

Moderator: Hon. Elizabeth B. Lacy 
Senior Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia
Richmond, Virginia

Panelists: Hon. B. Waugh Crigler
William D. Dolan III
Prof. James E. Moliterno
Anita O. Poston

Reporter: Jeanne F. Franklin

PRESENTATION - Inaugural Leadership in Education Award

Learn more about the William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award established by the Virginia State Bar Section on the Education of Lawyers in Virginia

Mr. Rakes accepts the Innaugural William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award

PROGRAM: Is There a Crisis in Legal Education?

view transcript of Is There a Crisis in Legal Education? Program (227 KB PDF)

Dean David N. Yellen
School of Law
Loyola University, Chicago

Professor William D. Henderson
Director, Center on the Global Legal Profession
Mauer School of Law
Indiana University, Bloomington

Reporter: Prof. Dale Margolin Cecka

--- April 23, 2012 ---

view transcript of Day 2 of the Education Conclave (679 KB PDF)

PANEL III – HOW DO WE MOST EFFECTIVELY SEEK TO EDUCATE LAWYERS THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS?

view transcript of Panel 3 (225 KB PDF)

What are the main ways in which lawyers continue to learn over the course of their legal careers?   Which ones seem to be especially effective?  Among these ways, what is the most useful role for mandatory CLE?  To what extent does it now actually fulfill that role?

Moderator: Warren David Harless   
President, Virginia State Bar
Christian & Barton, LLP
Richmond, Virginia
 
Panelists: David P. Bobzien  
Hon. Donald W. Lemons
Jacquelyn E. Stone
Prof. Richard D. Balnave

Reporter: John H. Foote

PANEL IV – DO JUDGES HAVE A MEANINGFUL ROLE IN LEGAL EDUCATION?

view transcript of Panel 4 (219 KB PDF)

Since judges often see some lawyers’ abuse of precedent and statutory law, gross inability to write, and blatant incivility, should judges insist more forcefully on legal competence, ethical behavior and civility from lawyers appearing in their courts?   To the extent judges are reluctant to do so, what considerations inhibit them (for instance, concerns about reappointment, limited time to intervene, or belief that intervention would be inappropriate)?   Realistically can judges do more, and should they do more, to ensure the effective education of lawyers?

Moderator: Hon. Gerald Bruce Lee
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
Alexandria, Virginia

Panelists: Hon. Cynthia D. Kinser
Hugh M. Fain III  
Monica Taylor Monday
Hon. Michael F. Urbanski

Reporter: Hon. Walter S. Felton, Jr.

LUNCHEON PROGRAM

view transcript of the luncheon program (141 KB PDF)

Dean Emeritus John E. Montgomery
Director, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Center on Professionalism
School of Law, University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC

CLOSING SESSION & ADJOURNMENT

view transcript of the Conclave's Closing Session (143 KB PDF)

Reports from Reporters’ Subcommittee:

Hon. B. Waugh Crigler, Chair
Prof. Margaret Ivey Bacigal
Hon. Walter S. Felton, Jr.
Jeanne F. Franklin
John H. Foote
Prof. Dale Margolin Cecka

W. Taylor Reveley III, Ex Officio
William R. Rakes, Ex Officio


Conclave 2012 was financially assisted by the Virginia Law Foundation

Updated: Oct 18, 2012