Many courses throughout the curriculum make extensive use of
simulated lawyering activities as an instructional device. For example,
a number of first-year and upper-level courses contain extensive
lawyering simulation modules. In these modules, students are placed in
the role of lawyers representing a client and must engage in typical
lawyering activities, such as interviewing, counseling, negotiating,
and drafting. Modules may extend over several weeks and involve work in
and out of class. In a recent year, first-year students in
Contracts negotiated and drafted a sales contract; first-year students
in Civil Procedure made a motion argument; students in Business
Organizations drafted a shareholders' agreement and other documents;
students in Family Law drafted a prenuptial agreement, a divorce
settlement, and a statute; and students in Introduction to
Federal Income Taxation drafted an opinion letter. In each case,
students did all the lawyer's work necessary to the assignments and
received individual feedback on their projects. Through their work in
the modules, students learn or review areas of substantive law, receive
an introduction to lawyering skills, and integrate different aspects of
their legal education, just as lawyers do.
