Law School and Learning Ethics

by rabbifink on September 9, 2009 · 12 comments

EthicsLawyers take the brunt of  a lot of jokes and jabs questioning their ethics.

Believe it or not, Law Schools actually teach Ethical Lawyering and every student is required to pass that class prior to taking the bar.

Law blog Legal Geekery (recommended reading for law students) has an article criticizing the way Law Schools attempt to teach ethics to future lawyers.

In short, the argument goes (read here), by testing law students with proctors in the room, law students are not taught how to make ethical choices. Also, exams are taken on a software that locks the test taker’s computer while they take the exam. Instead, the schools should trust students the same way they will need to be trusted when they are in the work force with no proctor watching them. By watching every move the students make, Law Schools in effect, leave Law Students unprepared for the “real world”.

It got me thinking. Judaism is full of rules and regulations. The Torah is basically a really tough rule book. Does keeping the Torah’s laws help one become more ethical? Using the argument on Legal Geekery, the answer is no. Just because I act ethically because I fear retribution does not help me make ethical decisions when there is no fear of retribution.

But I disagree. I think practice makes perfect better. The Torah and its commandments are practice for the not-directly-related-Torah world when we do not have explicit rules and regulations to abide by. When we train our minds and bodies to act a certain way those thoughts and actions can become second nature. Second nature is pretty powerful. In fact, I recently mentioned in a Sermon that Rabbi Elyah Lopian held that second nature is stronger that our inborn tendencies. Our inborn tendencies are more easily changed than our bad or good habits. That is why good habits are so important. Rabbi Lopian explains that the commandments are tools for developing those good habits.

I see some strong parallels to Law School.

Law School is about developing good habits for Law Practice. Developing good habits for reading and briefing cases and developing good habits for analyzing facts and policies are what Law School is all about. Ethical Lawyering is the same. Developing good habits in ethics is good “practice” for “practice”. Doing your own work, solving problems on your own and using only permissible resources are good practice for becoming an ethical lawyer. Making honesty a habit will serve you well in practice. When ethics become second nature we can take away the training wheels and let you ride on your own with no proctor.

The proctor is training you. If you practice, you will make honesty second nature.

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Tagged as: ethics, funny, honesty, jokes, law, law school, lawyers, Legal Geekery, Loyola Law School, Parsha, Practice Makes Better, Rabbi Elyah Lopian, Torah

  • http://myweirdkids.blogspot.com/ tesyaa

    “The Torah and its commandments are practice for the not-directly-related-Torah world when we do not have explicit rules and regulations to abide by.”

    It doesn’t seem to be working very well. Lots of people people seem to think if it’s not explicitly in the Torah, it’s irrelevant.

    By the way, as a camp director yourself, did you see this post?

    http://superraizy.blogspot.com/2009/09/big-sister-is-watching-us.html

    • http://finkorswim.com rabbifink

      It works fine. People just don’t know how to use it…

      I saw that crazy camp director post.

      I am sure the issue is more complex than it seems on the surface. I do know of a camp that had a staff member posting very negative things on a blog and together with the staff member’s parents they had the staff member remove the blog.

  • http://finkorswim.com rabbifink

    It works fine. People just don’t know how to use it…

    I saw that crazy camp director post.

    I am sure the issue is more complex than it seems on the surface. I do know of a camp that had a staff member posting very negative things on a blog and together with the staff member’s parents they had the staff member remove the blog.

  • http://realtimejew.blogspot.com/ Real-Time Jew

    I woul like to think that the “practice for the not-directly-related-Torah world” approach could work.

    As far as why it’s not working right now – could it be that whether it works or not might depend on whether this goal is made explicit as part of our practice?

    It doesn’t surprise me or lots of other folks that the result of teaching (in the chareidi world at least) that goyim are inherently lower on the scale of humanity than “we” are, and that their laws and knowledge are not worthy or our respect results in people that do not apply their “practice” outisde the Torah world.

    Were those destructive attitudes to change, and the idea that Torah practice is intended to make use better people in all situations….

    • http://finkorswim.com rabbifink

      Of course, making it part of our lives should be an explcit goal. It certainly was in my home when I was growing up. Parents can take care of that aspect of chinuch.

      We share a similar idealistic idea of what Torah should be and unfortunately what the reality of our society is…

  • Offwinger

    Here is a different theory:

    Law school exams are often meant to simulate exam taking, for the purpose of training a student to take the bar exam.

    The bar exam is extremely strict about what materials or objects students may and may not bring with them. The bar exam features strict proctoring, including strict monitoring of rooms, access to facilities (e.g., the bathrooms), and strictly enforced time limits. The environment is necessarily a tense one, one where you are under extreme scrutiny.

    More restrictive law school exams (which doesn’t happen in every course) are simply “practice” for the bar exam. Students who only test in “comfortable” situations (no proctors, access to all the materials they want, snacks, etc.) may be at a disadvantage when they have to perform for real.

    As for the Torah, I’ve often thought that being a good technical “halachist” (for lack of a better one) significantly robs observance of both its spiritual and ethical underpinings.

  • http://finkorswim.com rabbifink

    Offwinger:

    More than a valid theory. It is probably closer to the truth that what Legal Geekery thinks.

    According the Legal Geekery writer, Law School exams should also train you for Law School practice where there are no proctors. I think that even with proctors the exam can prepare you for successful after school ethics.

    Being a technical Halachist is only part of absorbing Torah into ones life-stream. But without its regulations and limits it may be impossible to integrate Torah into one’s life.

  • Offwinger

    I’ve heard a lot of reasons for traditional law school exams and a lot of reasons against. Not once has anyone raised “It teaches ethics” as a justification.

    As for being a good technical halachist, I guess what I mean is that if you treat your Torah observance as though you were a pro se client, it has the potential to do damage, even if you become great at avoiding halachic violations and meeting obligations.

    • http://finkorswim.com rabbifink

      It teaches ethics was not the justification. Teaching bad ethics was mentioned as a problem with proctored exams. I countered that even with a proctor we are not teaching bad ethics.

      And yes, we would call that person a naval birshus hatorah. Just because its allowed does not make it okay.

  • http://finkorswim.com rabbifink

    It teaches ethics was not the justification. Teaching bad ethics was mentioned as a problem with proctored exams. I countered that even with a proctor we are not teaching bad ethics.

    And yes, we would call that person a naval birshus hatorah. Just because its allowed does not make it okay.

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