By ALLISSA KLINE
akline@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1612

The curriculum at the University at Buffalo Law School isn't what it was 20 years ago.

The traditional classroom setting - in which students read and analyze cases at the direction of a professor who delivers lectures at a podium - is increasingly supplemented with skills-oriented education and real-life experiences in the legal field. Educators at UB Law say the enhanced experiential curriculum, which began in the 1990s, gives students essential hands-on experience in the profession.

It may get revamped again as faculty and administrators consider new ways to teach today's law students. Both employers and the American Bar Association are demanding students who are "practice ready" when they graduate, and that means law schools, including UB, have to adjust their teaching models.

"I think the education that many of our students have had is one that's not as well-suited to easily transition to the successful practice of law," said James Gardner, UB Law's vice dean of academic affairs. "The big challenge in legal education is to figure out how to reach these students and get them where they need to be to really be ready to enter the profession of practicing law."

Law schools nationwide are grappling with the best ways to teach fledgling lawyers. The ABA, which accredits law schools, requires that they meet certain educational standards to maintain accreditation. Many center on better writing and analyzing skills and an increase in direct experience in the legal industry before graduation. Similarly, law firms and legal organizations are looking more and more to hire graduates who don't need much training to get started on the job.

"It's more difficult now than perhaps ever for law school graduates to get the jobs they want. One of the things we're seeing ... is a renewed emphasis from employers who want (to hire) graduates who can come in and start working, who don't need to go through lengthy internships and on-the-job training," said Charles Ewing. He is vice dean for legal skills at UB Law.

Ewing, a SUNY Distinguished Law Professor, has taught there for 28 years. He became vice dean for legal skills in 2009 as part of the school's reorganization of its legal skills curriculum, which now exists under a single umbrella and offers 100-plus legal skills-related courses for students.

One of the major skills identified as lacking in graduates was the ability to conduct effective legal research and writing, so Ewing and his team set out to revise that area of the curriculum. Students have historically taken two semesters of legal research and writing, usually during their first year of law school. Starting this fall, however, they will be required to take a third semester.

"Analysis and writing are two of the most difficult things to teach anyone, not just law students. And I think what's happened over the years is that we've seen more and more undergraduate programs that are really deficient in writing-intensive courses," he said. "I've felt for 28 years that we needed to do more, and over the years we have done incrementally more, but this will be a big change."

Additionally, students are now required to take an upper-level, writing-intensive seminar to further develop effective legal skills, Ewing said.

The school is simultaneously thinking long term about its clinical legal education program, a subset of its overall legal skills curriculum.

Kim Diana Connelly, a former professor at the University of South Carolina, was hired by UB Law last year to direct and revamp the program. She's now in the  midst of a year-long review and planning process to figure out how to improve the program.

Right now, there aren't enough local clinical placements to provide every interested student with a chance to practice law with real clients, Connelly said. Finding new opportunities will provide students with further hands-on experience in the profession, well before they're actually working in a law firm, she said.

"We're trying to figure out how to take an already excellent program and make it even better and target it even more," she said. "My goal in life is to graduate practice-ready students, and offering them opportunities to practice here obviously helps them achieve that goal."

According to Gardner, UB Law School Dean Makau Mutua has indicated interest in fully examining the school's curriculum and thinking about long-term goals in order to best prepare students for the legal profession.

"Maybe it's time for another restructuring, like the one we did in the '90s," Gardner said.

"I think the faculty needs to focus on the qualities of our students and, regardless of what the substance is going to be, think about the right form of pedagogy for these students. They're very smart and high-achieving people who are bright; it's just that they haven't had exposure to the kinds of things we demand from then, so it's a difficult kind of challenge."