Electronic Lawyering and the Academy

Abstract

The author challenges the conventional perception: that training law students in technology can be delegated exclusively to some one other than the professor. Legal educators can no longer avoid responsibility for educating their graduates in a way which does not adequately prepare them for the existing and future demands of law practice. This article does not address the initial form of Distance Learning--where one teacher conducts a class in two or more locations via televideo. Instead, the author provides advice on the advantages and disadvantages of three available modes for the "other" educational medium: (1) an e-mail extension of the classroom; (2) using the Internet to augment classroom resources; and/or (3) undertaking a fully electronic class--with no physical location for teacher or student, with all class materials and the examination(s) being conducted online.