Logic and Experience: The Origin of Modern American Legal Education

by William P. LaPiana

Overview

The 19th century saw dramatic changes in the legal education system in the United States. Before the Civil War, lawyers learned their trade primarily through apprenticeship and self-directed study. By the end of the 19th century, the modern legal education system which was developed primarily by Dean Christopher Langdell at Harvard was in place: a bachelor's degree was required for admission to the new model law school, and a law degree was promoted as the best preparation for admission to the bar. William P. LaPiana provides an in-depth study of the intellectual history of the transformation of American legal education during this period. In the process, he offers a revisionist portrait of Langdell, the Dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1900, and the earliest proponent for the modern method of legal education, as well as portraying for the first time the opposition to the changes at Harvard.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195079357
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/20/1994
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.31(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.88(d)
Lexile:	1650L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

1.	Introduction	3
2.	Harvard's Transformation	7
	Appointing a Dean	7
	Developing a Law School	14
	Birth of the Case Method	22
3.	Antebellum Legal Education	29
	A Science of Principles	29
	A Practical Science of Procedure	38
	Education in Legal Science	44
4.	Case Method and Legal Science	55
	A Science of Narrow Rules	55
	A Technical Science of Contracts and Equity	58
	Changes in Procedure and Legal Thought	70
5.	Harvard and the Legal World	79
	The Struggle for Standards in New York	79
	Case Method Comes to Columbia	92
	Case Method and Practice	99
6.	A New Legal Science	110
	Fact-Based Legal Science	110
	Harvard Teachers and Positive Law	122
7.	Opposition	132
	The Case Lawyer	132
	The Evils of Positivism	138
8.	Reconciliation	148
	The Spread of the Case Method	148
	The Failure of Sociological Jurisprudence	152
	The American Law Institute	158
	The Coming of Realism	164
	Epilogue	168
	Notes	171
	Bibliography	221
	Index	243

Editorial Reviews

"Through extensive research in archival and manuscript collections, legal periodicals, and the reports of professional organizations, LaPiana places Langell's innovations for the first time within a comprehensive cultural framework."—American Historical Review

"The most convincing and complete portrait of Christopher Columbus Langdell ever to appear."—The Journal of American History

"This is a very good book containing many interesting discoveries; it probably puts forth the best case possible for its client and cause, Langdell and the Harvard project."—Michigan Law Review

"The most convincing and complete portrait of Christopher Columbus Langdell ever to appear."—The Journal of American History

"This work examines a subject that no other book does. It is based on exhaustive research and displays a lawyer's appreciation of the realities of practice."—Perspectives on Political Science

From the Publisher