Fourteen students graduated from the University of Dayton School of Law in January, having earned their JDs in five semesters. They've weighed in on the first trial of the School’s new option allowing them to finish a semester sooner than the traditional six. The verdict: they will start their earning clocks sooner, save a semester’s worth of living expenses and get a head start on the competition.
“A lot of law students at other schools that I’ve talked to felt they were wasting their time (in their sixth semester),” UD law student Tommie Culpepper said. “Plus, we aren’t competing for jobs with the big group that graduates in May. My guess is that employers will perceive someone who graduated in 2 or 2.5 years as more competent and motivated.”
Jacklyn Knuckles and Shahrzad Allen join Culpepper in the class of 14 graduates who are the first beneficiaries of the new five-semester option. Each of them felt the workload had no ill effect on their grades and was manageable with good organizational skills.
For Allen, the flexibility of finishing in December means being able to study for the February Ohio bar exam while her children are in school during the day. Had Allen graduated in May, her children would be on summer vacation while she studied for the bar exam. Knuckles had flexibility in negotiating a May start date at a Cincinnati law firm.
The accelerated option is part of UD’s new Lawyers as Problem Solver curriculum. UD developed the program two years ago in response to student and employer concerns that students learned more about theory than the practical skills needed to deal with real clients.
“Employers want graduates who can hit the ground running,” UD School of Law Dean Lisa Kloppenberg said. “We need to train people to be ready for the profession. Companies and clients want faster, cheaper and more satisfying ways of solving disputes. Law schools have been the last to catch up, so now we are stepping up.”
Kloppenberg will be part of the Carnegie Foundation’s next examination of how American law schools educate their students. Representatives from 10 law schools, including Harvard University and New York University, started discussing sweeping curricula changes they hope give birth to a new breed of lawyers Dec. 7-8 at Stanford University.
Knuckles feels prepared to be among the new breed that’s ready to jump from academic life to working life. She said the Lawyer as Problem Solver’s emphasis on developing practical skills gave her opportunities to draft and edit contracts and clerk for a judge before graduation.
“The mandatory externships are the best things UD has done,” said Culpepper, who worked with a criminal prosecutor in the Middletown, Ohio, municipal court. “We are put somewhere and given actual responsibilities. I’ve talked to students from other schools who’ve complained that they’ve been taught so much legal theory that they don’t know the law.”
In addition to hands-on learning, UD’s Lawyer as Problem Solver program emphasizes service and applying legal education to solve problems for their clients, communities and the world. Those skills may come in handy as lawyers line up to contest upcoming election results and the increasing number of eminent domain and privacy cases.
“Lawyer as Problem Solver opened my eyes in ways I hadn’t imagined,” said Allen, who had worked with lawyers while managing a dental practice for 12 years before starting law school. “Lawyers need to do things from the start that help clients avoid problems.”
“I am grateful to these ‘pioneers’ of the new curriculum for their patience and helpful critique. We have listened to and learned from them,” said Kloppenberg. “It is not always easy to be the ‘first’, but I hope the Class of ‘08 knows that it always holds a special place in the heart and the history of Dayton Law. I have no doubt that they will ‘do us proud’.”