About the Young Advocates Series

• Author: John Hollander
• Pages: 5-6

about the young advocates series

v

About the Young Advocates

Series

   to bridge the gap between law school and

law practice? It used to be that experience in both trans-

actions and courtrooms taught junior lawyers everything

that law school missed. Today, the legal system has be-

come so complex that trials are few and far between, and

those that occur take weeks or months, not days. Trans-

actions are also far more complex than they once were. It

always seems that so much is at stake — all the time.

e result of all this complexity is that senior lawyers

do not generally assign signicant responsibility to their

juniors. ey delegate tasks, not les. A junior litigator or

transactions lawyer simply does not learn as much or as

well when playing a subordinate role when compared to

having full responsibility for a le.

Traditionally, law schools teach legal theory and legal

analysis. Increasingly, however, they have started to teach

some students entry-level practicalities, from trial advocacy

to negotiation to alternative dispute resolution. ey teach

to enable students to succeed in law school, but not to suc-

ceed in law practice. is may come in the future, but law

schools are a long way from accomplishing that today.