The Corner

Education

Today’s Lawyers Need Better Understanding of Math and Science

It’s quite possible for someone to earn a law degree and become a practicing attorney without ever taking any courses on math and science. That’s a failing, argues law professor Nathan Schachtman in this Martin Center article.

He writes:

These disincentives to enroll in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses create a serious problem for law-school education. The basic law degree, the Juris Doctorate, follows upon a three-year academic program. Law schools face significant pressure to include clinical courses to prepare students for trial and appellate work, as well as for counseling clients. There is a core curriculum, which will be tested on the bar examinations and which must be taught. Law students have little time and opportunity to extend their basic education in the STEM disciplines while pursuing the J.D.

Schachtman taught a course on probability at Columbia and suggests that other law schools ought to at least offer something similar since lawyers may find that they need some knowledge of statistics. Since much of the law-school curriculum is a waste of time on topics the student will never use, I think this is a good idea.

George Leef is the the director of editorial content at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is the author of The Awakening of Jennifer Van Arsdale: A Political Fable for Our Time.
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