Reimagining Legal Education: Embracing Authenticity and Individuality in Law School

-- By IjahalaPottinger - 24 Feb 2024

Introduction

For many law students, it is easy to succumb to the conventional narrative – the pursuit of prestigious Big Law careers and rigorous adherence to established norms, expectations, and markers of success. What makes this conformity an attractive choice? Is it the product of intentional reflection and measured decision-making? Is it the path of least resistance? Or is it something else?

What if law school allowed students to explore their passions and interests rather than conforming to predefined scripts of success? How can traditional legal education empower students to become the architects of their careers, limited only by their imagination? In this thought piece, I will explore the disillusionment associated with traditional legal education, the challenges first-year law students face, and the quest for authenticity in the legal profession.

Law School as a Mystification Exercise

Law school is often romanticized as a bastion of academic pursuit and professional advancement. For many students, however, the reality falls short of these lofty expectations. During the three years between my undergraduate graduation and law school enrollment, I yearned to return to the classroom. I was eager to engage in intellectual thought exercises and connect legal theory to policy to uncover how certain power structures came to be and how the law shapes lived experiences. Though that has yet to be my experience, I must remind myself that I am both grateful and privileged to belong to the law school community. I must remember that for anyone, especially those of us who identify as first-generation, pursuing a legal education unlocks opportunities and resources many people can only dream of accessing. On my worst days, this reality is my sole motivating factor. While my experience is not without critique, I must approach my legal education with humility and appreciation for the chance to pursue my passions and aspirations and pave the way for future generations in my family and community to do the same.

Growing up in immigrant communities, I became interested in how race, class, education, and politics interact with the legal system to perpetuate socioeconomic inequities as a child. I attended a pre-law magnet high school where I became passionate about the compounding harm imposed on low-income communities of color due to racial disparities in mass incarceration. Learning about prosecutorial discretion, transformative justice, and prison abolition, I imagined myself pursuing a public service career to mitigate racial injustice in the sentencing of juvenile offenders. Before beginning law school, I understood the journey's rigorous nature. What I did not anticipate, however, was that I would start to forget my reasons for pursuing law school so early in my process. As Duncan Kennedy writes, I am probably disillusioned by traditional legal pedagogy emphasizing unconnected legal problems in the mystified context of legal reasoning in isolation from actual lawyering experience. When my discomfort becomes too burdensome, I search for community online. Before long, I am down a rabbit hole of academic articles discussing how the disconnect between classroom learning and actual legal practice exacerbates feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt among first-year law students. A consensus that the rigid curriculum and competitive environment stifle creativity and breed a profound sense of disillusionment emerges. I find the description for a course entitled, “(Dis)illusionment for Young Lawyers” at Harvard. Is this solace or a warning?

The Miseducation of the First-Year Law Student

For many first-year law students, the transition to law school is a daunting experience. Overemphasis on grades, rankings, and prestigious career paths creates a suffocating environment of intense competition and persistent anxiety. Grading reproduces a hierarchy system but gives students little to no feedback on their comprehension or analytical skills. The result is that students experience their grades as mostly arbitrary and unrelated to their expended effort, total understanding of the learned topics, interest in the material, or level of satisfaction with the class and professor. Pursuing traditional academic success in the law school environment does not always align with individual interests or values and fails to communicate much about the student. Compounding this issue is that first-year law students hardly have the time to think critically about what success looks like for them. Yet, the pressure to conform to institutional expectations is immense as students fear what will become of them if they do not fulfill these expectations. The allure of Big Law firms and corporate success is enough to compel students to conform to institutional expectations. It also overshadows alternate areas of interest and career paths that should be considered prestigious. This leaves students trapped in a cycle of conformity and self-doubt – before the golden handcuffs.

A Call for Authenticity, Individuality, and Self-Exploration in Legal Education

Understanding these challenges, law students must reclaim their sense of agency, authenticity, and individuality through self-exploration. Law school does not have to be suitable for everyone, but that does not imply that those grappling with these feelings are not cut out to be lawyers. The task is to uncover one’s self-informed path in the legal profession by resisting the pressures to conform to predefined notions of success. Self-exploration in law school entails introspection, curiosity, and a willingness to explore diverse perspectives and career paths. It involves asking hard questions about one’s values, interests, and goals and seeking opportunities to align one’s academic and professional aspirations with these personal principles.

Conformity – even to impossible standards – is easy. It is predictable and requires little thought. What is challenging is choosing self-discovery. It is uncomfortable and uncertain. Law schools must cultivate inclusive learning environments that empower students to choose this tool to curate their personal and professional development. Reimagining traditional models of legal pedagogy and embracing an individualized approach that prioritizes authenticity, individuality, and self-exploration moves towards that goal. So does encouraging self-reflection and providing opportunities for experiential learning as early as the first year. Doing so can foster a generation of empowered lawyers equipped to make meaningful societal contributions while resisting some predetermined script.

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