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43 Hastings L.J. 1107 (1991-1992)
Students and Lawyers, Doctrine and Responsibility: A Pedagogical Colloquy

handle is hein.journals/hastlj43 and id is 1143 raw text is: Students and Lawyers, Doctrine and Responsibility: A Pedagogical Colloquy* Over the past few years, legal educators have been involved in a growing debate over the responsibility of law schools to promote social justice within the profession. Some institutions have failed to respond to the debate. Others have responded by strengthening and expanding their clinics, while still others have instituted voluntary or mandatory pro bono programs. The four pieces that follow grow out of efforts which have been under way at the University of Maryland Law School to de- velop a more systematic and comprehensive curricular offering which fo- cuses on the public responsibilities of lawyers to the poor. Maryland's Legal Theory and Practice (LTP) courses are an ambitious endeavor to provide law students with an integrated learning experience that links legal theory, doctrine, and practice.1 * As a group whose principal teaching responsibility it has been to develop the Legal Theory and Practice courses, we are thankful for the opportunity to acknowledge our gratitude for the support and encouragement given by so many valued colleagues at the University of Maryland Law School. Chief among these are former Dean Michael J. Kelly, whose steady leadership kept on course this nascent effort to include the poor and unrepresented in the core curriculum; and Associate Dean Alan Hornstein and Professor Michael Millemann, whose commitments to complementary visions of newly vitalized legal education encouraged the faculty to give us rope enough to weave what we would. We have enjoyed the special gift of talented teachers who have collaborated with us in various LTP courses: Taunya Banks, Karen Czapanskiy, Everett Goldberg, Alan Hornstein, Michael Kelly, David Luban, Michael Millemann, Richard North, and Dean Hill Rivkin. We appreciate deeply the warmth and accommodation with which the faculty of the Clinical Law Office have encouraged and assisted the LTP program's development to this point. Finally, we thank Eunice Richardson, Flo Smith, and Linda Whaley for ceaseless assistance to us, to our students, and to clients, in our hectic, albeit rewarding, teaching-practice. 1. For a brief description of the history and institutional context that produced Mary- land's LTP program, see Dean Rivkin, The University of Maryland School of Law: Progressive Ideals In Action, 1991 SALT EQUALIZER 1. Rivkin explains that the program originated in the energetic efforts of Maryland faculty working in conjunction with the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC), a state-chartered funding source for legal services for the poor. In the course of a major study on the legal needs of the state's poor, conducted by a blue ribbon commission (chaired by now member of Congress, Benjamin Cardin) under the auspices of the MLSC, Maryland faculty saw an opportunity to develop an innovative pedagogical and public service program, combining the best of the school's extensive clinical program and drawing on the resources of a faculty and administration with strong interests in explicating and realizing the public responsibilities of the legal profession. The final MLSC report recommended, among other initiatives, that the state's two law schools develop pro- [1107]