Law schools have talked about the “practice-ready lawyer” for years. An aspirational goal that flits into recruiting materials on gossamer wings before collapsing under the weight of three years of casebook work. The legal academy developed its model over a century ago and it will cling to it with the tenacity of a lamprey with tenure. And despite efforts to bring more experiential training into the system, learning the practical side of the profession continues to rely largely on the apprenticeship model.
Trial advocacy ends up one of the subjects lost in the law school shuffle. Classes turn on debating the finer points of appellate decisions, and trial practice only shows up when the Supreme Court declares, “dear God, whatever you do, don’t do THAT in front of a jury.” That leaves the finer points of trial work to on-the-job training, with all the added pressure and the time constraints that go with it.
What’s impressed me about the MoloLamken Advocacy Academy ever since I first heard about it, is that it stakes out some middle ground between the classroom and the sink-or-swim of being thrown into a case. The week-long course for rising 3Ls nestled at the end of summer associate gigs and before returning to campus, runs students through a practical advocacy curriculum. And they get paid to do it.
This year’s Academy finished up last month, and we reached out to some of the attendees to get first-hand accounts of the experience. Off the top, everyone we contacted praised the program and called attention to the resources the firm commits to the course. “Over the course of the week, partners from every ML office flew in to lead training sessions and give detailed, practical feedback,” said Matt Beattie-Callahan of Yale. “Even the firm’s two named partners, Steve Molo and Jeff Lamken, were consistently present and personally engaged, taking time to offer individualized feedback and guidance.”
Some law schools have invested practical education, but there’s an element that no amount of ivory tower education can capture. “The Academy taught techniques that aren’t really used in the more rigid moot court and mock trial formats, but I think will be extremely helpful in real litigation settings,” said Daniel Green of UCLA. Law schools, for better or worse, impart Platonic ideals with Socratic flair. A law school mock trial won’t replicate what happens when seasoned litigators break down their craft. It’s not even necessarily the school’s fault — there’s a built-in artificiality that comes with a graded environment that a mentorship program doesn’t bring.
And with that comes some direct and honest feedback. After devoting law school to overcoming “a hand-talker” habit, Avery Newcom of Cornell described learning to love the hands. “At MoloLamken, every partner insisted that I had to use my hands. We even watched videos of advocates on mute, and their effectiveness came almost entirely from their hand motions. The Academy taught me that what I thought was my greatest weakness is actually one of my greatest advocacy strengths.” Some great film critics will tell you to watch a movie once with sound and once without, so you can focus on the visual storytelling the audience experiences unconsciously. A jury isn’t any different, and all those hand gestures convey meaning, accentuation, and personality.
Blending classroom training with stand-up advocacy exercises — including surprise “pop-up argument” assignments where students got short legal problems, like a contested evidence objection, and were asked to break it down and prepare an oral argument under a short time window — the Academy blends the law school class technique with on-the-job experience with actual practitioners guiding the learning.
It’s a unique curriculum that anyone looking to get into trial advocacy should check out if they’re hoping to leave law school having fulfilled a little of that “practice ready” promise.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post Bridging The Gap Between Law School And On-The-Job Training appeared first on Above the Law.
Law schools have talked about the “practice-ready lawyer” for years. An aspirational goal that flits into recruiting materials on gossamer wings before collapsing under the weight of three years of casebook work. The legal academy developed its model over a century ago and it will cling to it with the tenacity of a lamprey with tenure. And despite efforts to bring more experiential training into the system, learning the practical side of the profession continues to rely largely on the apprenticeship model.
Trial advocacy ends up one of the subjects lost in the law school shuffle. Classes turn on debating the finer points of appellate decisions, and trial practice only shows up when the Supreme Court declares, “dear God, whatever you do, don’t do THAT in front of a jury.” That leaves the finer points of trial work to on-the-job training, with all the added pressure and the time constraints that go with it.
What’s impressed me about the MoloLamken Advocacy Academy ever since I first heard about it, is that it stakes out some middle ground between the classroom and the sink-or-swim of being thrown into a case. The week-long course for rising 3Ls nestled at the end of summer associate gigs and before returning to campus, runs students through a practical advocacy curriculum. And they get paid to do it.
This year’s Academy finished up last month, and we reached out to some of the attendees to get first-hand accounts of the experience. Off the top, everyone we contacted praised the program and called attention to the resources the firm commits to the course. “Over the course of the week, partners from every ML office flew in to lead training sessions and give detailed, practical feedback,” said Matt Beattie-Callahan of Yale. “Even the firm’s two named partners, Steve Molo and Jeff Lamken, were consistently present and personally engaged, taking time to offer individualized feedback and guidance.”
Some law schools have invested practical education, but there’s an element that no amount of ivory tower education can capture. “The Academy taught techniques that aren’t really used in the more rigid moot court and mock trial formats, but I think will be extremely helpful in real litigation settings,” said Daniel Green of UCLA. Law schools, for better or worse, impart Platonic ideals with Socratic flair. A law school mock trial won’t replicate what happens when seasoned litigators break down their craft. It’s not even necessarily the school’s fault — there’s a built-in artificiality that comes with a graded environment that a mentorship program doesn’t bring.
And with that comes some direct and honest feedback. After devoting law school to overcoming “a hand-talker” habit, Avery Newcom of Cornell described learning to love the hands. “At MoloLamken, every partner insisted that I had to use my hands. We even watched videos of advocates on mute, and their effectiveness came almost entirely from their hand motions. The Academy taught me that what I thought was my greatest weakness is actually one of my greatest advocacy strengths.” Some great film critics will tell you to watch a movie once with sound and once without, so you can focus on the visual storytelling the audience experiences unconsciously. A jury isn’t any different, and all those hand gestures convey meaning, accentuation, and personality.
Blending classroom training with stand-up advocacy exercises — including surprise “pop-up argument” assignments where students got short legal problems, like a contested evidence objection, and were asked to break it down and prepare an oral argument under a short time window — the Academy blends the law school class technique with on-the-job experience with actual practitioners guiding the learning.
It’s a unique curriculum that anyone looking to get into trial advocacy should check out if they’re hoping to leave law school having fulfilled a little of that “practice ready” promise.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post Bridging The Gap Between Law School And On-The-Job Training appeared first on Above the Law.
