Study finds trial-advocacy program works at teaching legal skills
The University of New Hampshire School of Law isn’t alone in developing a more skills-related approach to legal education.
But its Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program has been ongoing for a decade, offering an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the trial-advocacy program that has been completed by about 120 students since 2008, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.
And participation in the Daniel Webster program, unlike standardized test scores or class rank, does indeed correlate with demonstrated client interview abilities. A study that will soon be published by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver reached this conclusion by comparing interview skills of 69 program graduates with 123 other lawyers who didn’t receive the same training.
Director John Garvey notes that the program focuses not only on teaching students legal skills and hands-on practice but providing the feedback needed to improve.
“We tell students this is going to be a safe place to make mistakes because that is what you will grow from,” he told the newspaper.
