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Preparing for Law School
A broad liberal arts education is excellent preparation for law school, but no specific prelaw curriculum is prescribed by MU or most other American law schools. American legal education is not a graduate program of advanced work in a specialized course of study. Legal education is professional education that depends on three fundamental capacities that may be obtained in a variety of academic disciplines.
First, because the working tools of lawyers are the written and spoken word, beginning law students must have thorough preparation in the English language. The importance of this requirement cannot be overstated. A fundamental knowledge of grammar and syntax, a good vocabulary, the ability to read rapidly with insight and understanding, and a facility for expressing ideas with clarity and order are all essential to success in the study and practice of law. Any aspiring law student deficient in these abilities should immediately take additional courses in English literature and composition, seek specialized remedial assistance and exert all efforts toward language mastery.
Next, because the primary working arenas of lawyers are the social, economic and political communities, undergraduate experience in these subject areas is helpful. The law student should have a good knowledge of history (especially English and American traditions), of government and political processes, of social and cultural patterns and the interactions that create them and of the ethical and spiritual credos by which men and women live.
Finally, because the fundamental techniques used by attorneys are careful ordering of facts and events, conceptual analysis and synthesis and effective advocacy, prelaw students should pursue a degree program which teaches them to think clearly, form sound study habits, and master the methodology and knowledge of a particular field under the guidance of experienced instructors. Almost any undergraduate program can satisfy this requirement and help meet the two capacities outlined above as well. People with definite career objectives in mind might major in subjects appropriate to those objectives.
For additional information, see the Prelaw Handbook, prepared by the Law School Admission Council/Law School Admission Services and published in cooperation with the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. This publication contains material on the law and lawyers, prelaw preparation, applying to law schools, and the study of law, together with information on most American law schools. It may be obtained at college bookstores or ordered from the Law School Admission Services.
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