Doctrine, experiential learning, and client‐centered lawyering: Teaching family law in a post‐pandemic world

• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Author: Caroline Rogus,Philomila Tsoukala
• Date: 01 October 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12677

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Doctrine, experiential learning, and client-centered

lawyering: Teaching family law in a post-pandemic

world

Caroline Rogus | Philomila Tsoukala

Correspondence

Caroline Rogus.

Email: crogus@law.gwu.edu

Abstract

The restrictions of pandemic teaching served as a catalyst

for the authors' integration of the skills-based and client-

centered teaching. Their refurbished models of teaching

family law aspire to capture the needs of under- and un-

represented populations of society, build students' lawyering

skills including “soft”skills like client interviewing, contemplate

what a satisfying career in family law could look like, and

deliver instruction on the theoretical underpinnings of the law

governing the creation and dissolution of familial units. The

article summarizes the authors' methods for incorporating such

“hands-on”learning into our classes, and demonstrates how

these ideas are malleable enough to work in in-person, remote,

concurrent, asynchronous, and synchronous classes.

KEYWORDS

client-centered lawyering, COVID-19, curriculum, doctrinal,

education, experiential learning, family law, law school, legal

practice, legal theory, post-pandemic, pre-pandemic, skills, syllabus

Key points

•Traditionally an area whose pedagogical focus was prep-

aration for the bar exam, family law presents opportuni-

ties to broaden its scope to include the contemplation of

family law practice and associated skills, to prepare stu-

dents for successful professional careers.

•In order to meet the demands of the field of practice,

family law instructors should adopt curricula that

DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12677

© 2022 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

818 Family Court Rev. 2022;60:818–835.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fcre

contextualize doctrinal law including its relevance to

modern pressures facing American families of different

socioeconomic, cultural and racial backgrounds, empha-

size a broader range of skills like listening and counseling,

address different types of resolution beyond traditional

litigation, and discuss ethical issues.

•The restrictions of pandemic teaching ultimately served

as a catalyst for more integration of the very kinds of

skills-based and client-centered teaching we had been

considering prior to 2020.

•Our refurbished models of teaching family law aspire to cap-

ture the needs of under- and un-represented populations of

society, build students' lawyering skills including “soft”skills

like client interviewing, contemplate what a satisfying career

in family law could look like, and, of course, deliver instruc-

tion on the meat and potatoes of family law: the theoretical

underpinnings of the law governing the creation and dissolu-

tion of familial units.

•Allowing students to struggle with practical and ethical

conundrums prior to graduation is valuable not only to

them but to their future employers as well. Law school

graduates will be more polished and prepared for the

field—a boon to employers—when they have tried their

hand at new skills and gained insight into their strengths

and limitations. Further, connecting students with under-

served populations through experiential learning opportuni-

ties can help foster a future commitment to social justice.

INTRODUCTION

Legal education has undergone a dramatic shift since the turn of this century, and educators have been tasked with

adapting instruction to more accurately reflect the realities of the practice of law.

1

The measure of a successful legal

education has rightfully shifted from what law schools are teaching to what students are learning.

2

To that end, law

1

See generally William M. Sullivan et al., EDUCATING LAWYERS:PREPARATION FOR THE PROFESSION OF LAW (2007) (the “Carnegie Report”); Alli Gerkman & Logan

Cornett, Institute for Advancement in the American Legal System, FOUNDATIONS FOR PRACTICE:THEWHOLE LAWYER AND THE CHARACTER QUOTIENT (2016)

(“Foundations for Practice”); Mary E. O'Connell & J. Herbie DiFonzo, The Family Law Education Reform Project Final Report,44F

AM.CT.REV.524 (2006) (the

“FLER Report”).

2

Melissa N. Henke, When Your Plate is Already Full: Efficient and Meaningful Outcomes Assessment for Busy Law Schools, 71 Mercer L.Rev. 529 (2020) (“The

relevant question is no longer what are law schools teaching their students, but instead, what are students learning from law schools in terms of the

knowledge, skills, and values that are essential for those entering the legal profession. In other words, law schools must shift their assessment focus from

one centered around inputs to one based on student outputs”).

ROGUS AND TSOUKALA 819