Legal Education: Learning to Think Like a Lawyer: Meanings and Methodological Approaches

Carroll Seron (University of California, Irvine)

Legal Education and Law Schools in Portugal
*Córa HMdS Hagino (University of Coimbra)

From a Seat in the Law School Classroom: Reflections on Participant Observation
*Liora Israël (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)

Argentinean Legal Education: Pedagogic Knowledge and Identity
*Silvina Pezzetta (CONICET UBA)

Women Law Professors in Germany and Their Contribution to Legal German

*Ulrike Schultz (Fernuniversität in Hagen)

Don’t Think Like a Lawyer! The Changing Role of Law in the Training of French Top Officials

*Rachel Vanneuvillle (CNRS), Emilie Biland (Ecole Normale Supérieure)

Discussant:

Lynn Mather (SUNY, Buffalo)

Abstract:

Dealing with legal education requires us to consider not only the traditional question of legal cultures, but also the diverse issues involved in different systems of higher education and legal professions. Based on studies of legal training from various countries, this session aims at understanding the meanings that “learning to think like a lawyer” can take in various contexts, and the reasons for those variations. Cross-cultural comparisons will lead to a discussion of the ways in which legal education can be compared among legal systems. Furthermore, the papers share a common point: some of the studies rely on ethnography performed in legal classes. The session will then examine methodological issues raised by this particular approach.