The Evolution of Legal Education in the United States and the United Kingdom: How one system became more faculty-oriented while the other became more consumer-oriented

Abstract

This paper explores how our approaches to preparing lawyers for practice became so different. It traces the evolution of the systems for preparing lawyers for practice in the United Kingdom and the United States, and it examines the relative merits of our current situations. Part I describes the key differences in our systems. Part II recounts major events in the histories of legal education in the United States and the United Kingdom. Part III describes new initiatives in the United Kingdom and the United States that may improve legal education.