American Legal Culture

The law in the United States has transformed prodigiously from the colonial era to the present times. Knowing the fact that law was practiced in the form of apprenticeship in its early days to having great expectations, a long and competitive process, and challenging regulations in becoming a lawyer is a verification to how law has been transformed (Friedman, p. 277.) In the “One L” book by Scott Turow, the reader attains great insight on how law schools are being conducted; describing the events in chronological order of first year at Harvard Law School during the 1970’s. The challenging courses, the great amount of studying, and other tragic occurrences plus the understanding of the law system by some of the law students has forever changed their lives. Two professors whom showed great affect on Turow are professors Perini and Morris, whom also have been displayed numerous of times along with their methods of teaching. Christopher Columbus Langdell – who became the dean of Harvard Law School, is the founder of the case and the Socratic methods that were used by Perini and Morris (Fredman, p. 280.) Begging the question, do these educational methods only teach a set of rules and analytical thinking skills to solve legal problems or do they teach law students the concept of “think like a lawyer”? The irony in the rise of legal education is that in the old days, the teachings of law was somewhat compared to the teachings of becoming a butcher or candlestick maker; they were all taught in the form of apprenticeship; in this time it is rare that lawyers are trained that way (Friedman, p. 277.) This method slowly developed into the establishment of a simple law school located in Connecticut, called the Litchfield School; later forming Harvard Law School, the “first university with a separate departments of law” (Friedman, p. 279.) The methods of teaching nowadays are structured and standardized that schools have one expectation that fits all; they are willing to