As a member of the Section's Scholarship Committee, Professor Winick was instrumental in putting together a symposium issue on "What Balance in Legal Education Means to Me," which now has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Legal Education.  Professor Winick authored a foreword to the issue that describes the Section's history and goals, and the issue will contain articles by law school deans Ed Rubin, Bill Rich, Daisy Floyd and Lawrence Raful, and Ben Gibson, a former law student  uniquely suited to represent the student voice.  Professor Winick's Foreword lists the purposes of the Balance in Legal Education Section as follows:

 

Therapeutic jurisprudence has also made a significant contribution to clinical legal education and skills training. See Symposium: Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Clinical Legal Education and Skills Training, 17 St. Thomas L. Rev. 3 403-896 (Bruce J. Winick & David B. Wexler eds. 2005);  Bruce J. Winick & David B. Wexler, The Use of Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Law School Clinical Education: Transforming the Criminal Law Clinic, 13 Clinical L. Rev. 605-32 (2006).

 

" 'Balance' in legal education is an intentionally  broad and ambiguous term.  The title is a Rorschach, a projection test, inviting people from differing perspectives to examine the many aspects of legal education and to think creatively about how, to the extent they seemed unbalanced, the balance could be restored. . . . "

 

"In what ways can legal education be thought of as being out of balance, and how can  balance be restored in each such area?  Raising these questions is the mission of the Section on Balance in Legal Education.  We seek to hold up a mirror to the legal academy and to call for  a broad examination and re-examination of all aspects of legal education.  Legal educators pride themselves on the many virtues of legal education – its sharpening of conceptual and communicative skills, its preparation of students for professional life, its rigors and its pleasures.  Yet, many questions can be raised about its basic approaches to teaching, testing, and socialization into professional life.  Do we adequately prepare our students to be the lawyers they soon will be?  Do existing practices strip away the values and idealism that many of our students brought with them to law school?  Can emerging techniques of teaching and learning be adapted to replace or augment the traditional case method and Socratic approaches that still predominate in law school?  Does law school produce more anxiety and stress in our students than is necessary or advisable?  Does it provide sufficient opportunities for students to exercise autonomy over curricular and other matters?  Does it contribute to the depression and dissatisfaction that many of our students and young professionals experience?"

 

"These are just some of the questions that our section on Balance in Legal Education seeks to raise.  Answers to these and other such questions will vary widely, of course.  The essays that follow reflect the thoughtful viewpoints of several law school deans and one former law student.  We offer these essays in the spirit of stimulating further dialog and debate about legal education and how it can be improved."