The first-year law school curriculum took shape more than 100 years ago. The basic curriculum hasn’t changed much over the course of the last century. Meanwhile, the practice of law has changed dramatically. One of those changes is the importance of information technologies in what young lawyers do as they enter the profession.
The Harvard Law School faculty recently voted in favor of substantial changes to our first-year curriculum. We aren’t the first law school to amend the first-year law school curriculum, but the changes are significant for at least two reasons. They passed unanimously, signaling a masterful job by the plan’s architects, Professor Martha Minow and Dean Elena Kagan. And the specific reforms, including introduction of a required course in international law, are well-conceived.
