Borden: Using the Client-File Method to Teach Transactional Law

Bradley T. Borden (Brooklyn), Using the Client-File Method to Teach Transactional Law, 16 Chapman L. Rev. ___ (2013):

This article presents a teaching method (the client-file method) for transactional law courses that combines the business school case-study method with the law school case method. The client-file method of teaching requires students to become familiar with real-word legal issues and the types of documents and information that accompany matters that transactional clients bring to attorneys. The method also requires students to learn and apply substantive law to solve problems that arise in a transactional law practice. Because the client-file method places students in a practice setting, it helps prepare them become more practice-ready before they graduate. Although the client-file exists in various forms in many parts of the legal curriculum, this Article describes its specific use in a transactional business course with accompanying diagrams and a description of the learn cycle it facilitates.