Katherine T. Vukadin (South Texas; Google Scholar), Outside the Ivory Tower: How Law Students Benefit When Their Professors Revisit Practice, 102 Or. L. Rev. 313 (2024): 

Theory or practice? For nearly a century, law professors and the legal community have debated whether law schools should focus on teaching the theory or the practice of law. At first, the theorists prevailed. Law schools emulated their ivory tower counterparts, teaching theory and producing scholarly research. Law students, they argued, could learn how to practice law after graduation.

Employers and graduates balked, complaining that new lawyers floundered in practice. Clients refused to subsidize their training. Law schools, they pointed out, are more akin to medical schools than traditional colleges, and law students need to learn essential skills alongside theory. After all, they pointed out, most law students attend law school intending to practice law, not to theorize.

In response, the American Bar Association (ABA) revised its accreditation standards, insisting that law schools increase experiential learning offerings. But law students still graduated as near strangers to the profession. Accordingly, the ABA now demands more once again, asking that law schools teach the skills of a lawyer but also welcome law students into the culture and ethics of the profession. Professional identity formation, as this teaching is called, is now part of law schools’ accreditation.

But how can law professors guide students’ professional identity formation if they themselves are unfamiliar with today’s profession? While many professors are engaged with the practicing bar, many others are not. Overtaken by the press of teaching, grading, service, and scholarship, their professional connections may wither. This Article posits that, to guide law students properly in their professional identity, law professors must connect with practice. Connection can consist of a sabbatical or other period of time spent fully immersed in practice or even an ongoing relationship with the local practicing bar or individual lawyers. Further, administrators should encourage these efforts. But all law professors should do something to ensure that their guidance is up to date and that they can provide the information and opportunities required for professional identity formation. 

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