It has been a core belief at the Massachusetts School of Law (MSLAW) that our faculty must be able to teach the practice of law and inculcate in students, starting in their first year of law school, the professional skills needed upon graduation. Much like medical schools, MSLAW has been able to accomplish its mission by hiring faculty that has extensive practice experience. This is markedly different from other law schools.

While, today, law schools across the country are under siege for their dearth of professional training, the Wall Street Journal reported on why traditional law schools are not up to the task. They wrote:

“Medical students learn from real doctors in a real hospital during their education. In law, we’re learning from a bunch of academics who have deliberately elected not to pursue law as a profession…there’s such a disconnect,” says BeiBei Que, a 2007 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law. Ms. Que, who runs a boutique law firm that helps tech start-ups navigate legal issues, says she had to pick up practical skills—networking, soliciting clients, forming a business plan—on her own. The article went on to report that “Law schools have generally lagged behind other, more real-world oriented institutions like business schools in piloting practical improvements, as law professors tend to focus on scholarly work, says Bill Henderson, a professor at Maurer. And curriculum change tends to “move like a glacier,” he adds. (Emphasis added).

MSLAW has always stressed core competencies such as: Learning to write well, speak articulately, analyze problems, plan courses of action, resolve problems inside and outside the legal system, address ethical and moral dilemmas, and carry themselves with professional deportment. MSLAW offers a broad range of courses emphasizing these core competencies which place high value on law practice-specific training and research. MSLAW is committed to educating tomorrow’s leaders by providing our students with opportunities to learn these professional skills and values by working under the tutelage of Professors who are attorneys, judges, and legislators who continue to hone their craft.

For more information about our faculty please visit our faculty page.

For more information about the skills you will learn in you attend MSLAW please visit our Skills Difference page.