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11 Ill. L. R. 591 (1916-1917)
Legal Clinics and Better Trained Lawyers a Necessity

handle is hein.journals/illlr11 and id is 585 raw text is: ILLINOIS LAW REVIEW Volume XI APRIL, 1917 . Number 9 LEGAL CLINICS AND BETTER TRAINED LAWYERS- A NECESSITY' By WLLAm V. ROWE A preliminary word as to plan and scope is perhaps called for. We are suggesting a sound idea, presented from the right point of view, but the success of its practical development in a law school will depend absolutely on the existence of genuine enthusiasm on the part of both faculty and students. Without enthusiastic belief in and devotion to the idea, the effort to work out satisfactory results will not be worth while. That enthusiasm will, in turn, depend in large measure on a comprehensive knowl- edge and grasp of existing conditions and a full appreciation of their significance and tendency. As this memorandum has -been prepared for the eye of the general professional reader as well as for that of the law school expert, it contains a fulness of introductory and explanatory de- tail which otherwise would have been unnecessary, and which the specialist may conveniently overlook. To the mind of the expert, the suggestion itself will carry conviction without illustrative or argumentative support. Training in a legal clinic is not a startling novelty. It has been in use for years at Copenhagen, and has recently 'been adopted, officially or unofficially, as the case may be, by the University of Minnesota, Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, Tennessee, George Washington, and perhaps elsewhere. In seek- ing to overcome possible conservatism in New York, where such a clinic is most needed, and in other communities, we are simply working in virgin soil which may require a little preparatory treat- ment. In discussions of this nature bearing upon legal education, we must not for one moment overlook the fundamental and vital inter- 1. A memorandum originally prepared (in 1914-15) primarily for Colum- bia University and New York State, but applicable generally, and now printed with a few changes. It is intended to supply merely the suggestions, chapter-headings and points for a full argument