New Lawyer Training Program: First Year of Implementation

• Jurisdiction: Utah,United States
• Citation: Vol. 23 No. 6 Pg. 33
• Pages: 33
• Publication year: 2010

Utah Bar JournalVolume 23.

Vol. 23, No. 6, 33. New Lawyer Training Program: First Year of Implementation

Utah Bar Journal
Volume 23 No. 6
Nov/Dec 2010

New Lawyer Training Program: First Year of Implementation

by Tracy Gruber

Once again, the Utah State Bar is expanding its membership, admitting over 300 new lawyers in October 2010. Fortunately, these newly-minted members of the bar will not be alone as they embark on the next stage of their professional development. The experienced members of the bar will be there to guide, assist, and mentor the new lawyers through the New Lawyer Training Program (NLTP).

It is difficult for the new lawyer to face the reality that law school does not fully prepare recent graduates to practice law. After all, three years of intensive study, up to $100,000 in expenses, typically in the form of student loans, not to mention the many stressful months of preparing for the bar exam should prepare one for the profession. However, numerous studies continue to demonstrate that despite successfully teaching legal doctrine and analyses, and preparing one to "think like a lawyer," law schools consistently fall short in providing the skills necessary for new lawyers to practice. The nature of the modern legal education is such that practical legal skills training is not the focus of the law school curriculum. Although this focus is changing with the expansion of law school clinical and externship programs, limited access to these programs for law students has failed to address the problem.

Brigham Young University Professor and member of the Supreme Court Committee on New Lawyer Training, James Backman...