Suffolk Law School Professor Jennifer Ciarimboli offers some thought-provoking ideas about whether law faculty are thinking properly about how much homework to assign. Obviously, there are pros and cons to different approaches. But there can’t be any debate that this is a topic worthy of our attention. You can find her work here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5533701&dgcid=ejournal_htmlemail_legal%3Aeducation%3Aejournal_abstractlink I paste the abstract below.

Honing Homework: Assigning Less and Better to Increase Learning and Quality of Life in Law School

Forthcoming in Widener Law Review, Volume 32

43 Pages Posted: 29 Sep 2025

Jennifer Ciarimboli

Suffolk University Law School

Date Written: September 18, 2025

Abstract

For many law students, homework is not a pathway to deep learning—it’s a barrier.  Law school homework in doctrinal classrooms that follow the traditional model of endless appellate case-reading simply isn’t progressing students from novice to expert the way that a pedagogically superior mix of assignments in the right quantity might.  It is time for law school faculty to reconsider the homework status quo. 

This Article discusses the ways that both the quantity of homework and the type of assignment given in the traditional doctrinal classroom fail to meet students’ needs.  First, an excessive amount of homework coupled with the assignment of expert tasks to novices has a detrimental effect on students’ mental health and motivation.  Second, a decline in reading skills in undergraduates over the past few decades, and the elimination of many humanities programs at colleges and universities in recent years, means students may not have the skills to complete the type of assignment they are given early in their law school careers.  Third, nontraditional populations of law students, including working students and students with caregiving responsibilities are hindered by an amount of homework that doesn’t account for obligations outside of law school.  Other nontraditional populations, including first-generation law students and members of other historically underrepresented groups are negatively impacted by a lack of explicit instruction in how to study law and a lack of practical assignments.  Finally, and most importantly, appellate case-reading assignments, without more, aren’t the most effective homework assignments to promote deep learning, nor do they do enough to prepare students for their final exams, the bar exam, or practice. This Article gives practical recommendations to law school faculty to enable them to assign homework that promotes learning and essential skills practice in the right amounts.  Recommendations are also provided for law schools and academic publishers to help them support faculty with the tools they need to do this important work. 

Keywords: Law School, Homework, Pedagogy, Mental Health

Funder Statement

AASE | AccesLex grant recipient. The research was also supported by Suffolk University Law School.

Suggested Citation:

Ciarimboli, Jennifer and Ciarimboli, Jennifer,

Honing Homework: Assigning Less and Better to Increase Learning and Quality of Life in Law School(September 18, 2025). Forthcoming in Widener Law Review, Volume 32, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5533701 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5533701