Law schools are often criticized for spending too much time and effort teaching their students the law and not nearly enough teaching them the practice of law, with the result that new admittees to the bar are woefully ill-prepared to undertake their new duties as officers of the court and practicing attorneys.
That censure appears far less justified today than it was in the past, for most law degree curricula now include robust clinical programs, internships, trial practice courses and similar programs designed to expose the law student to the realities of the legal profession he or she will soon enter. But the primary focus of the law school must remain, of course, on legal doctrine, and there is a limit to how much of the available time can be carved out and devoted to the practical programs. Accordingly, the law school graduate necessarily comes to her new profession with much to learn.
