larryvelvel's Podcast

Associate Dean Michael L. Coyne of the Massachusetts School of Law, in a recent article in Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly, compared the teaching methods of today’s legal education, often unfavorably, to those of medicine. In the article, Coyne took issue with the practices of legal education and requirements for ABA accreditation.

Coyne states that such practices fail to “produce graduates who, upon passing the bar exam, would be ready to contribute to their community and ‘hit the ground running.’� In suggesting reform, Coyne states that legal education should follow the model presented by medical school: “rather than reading about legal cases and discussing legal principles in an academic vacuum, they would possess a clear understanding of how these principles translate to practical application.�

To find out more visit http://www.masslawyersweekly.com/subscriber/archives_FTS.cfm?page=ma/07/7300728.htm&recID=412597&QueryText=michael%20and%20l%20and%20coyne

Professors Diane Sullivan and Holly Vietzke, of the Massachusetts School of Law, recently wrote an op-ed piece demanding the suspension of NFL quarterback Michael Vick after being indicted on charges of animal cruelty. This piece, published in several newspapers (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hartford Courant, Lowell Sun, and Andover Townsman), points to the recent inconsistencies of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in his punishment of NFL players.

 

Goodell has said, “The highest standards of conduct must be met by everyone in the NFL because it is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right.� In the past, say Sullivan and Vietzke, Goodell has followed the direction given in this statement, suspending players like Tank Johnson for eight games after violating his probation on gun charges. Now, Goodell diverts from his own called “’standards of conduct.’� Vick’s ghastly acts tarnish the NFL, continued the two professors, yet has not sufficed in suspension. One is left asking whether Vick’s popularity, “sport[ing] the league's second-highest selling jersey,� has anything to do with Goodell’s decision not to suspend.