Legal Education In The United States: Moving Toward More Practical Experience

Hon. Sandra R. Klein (U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California), Legal Education in the United States: Moving Toward More Practical Experience, 42 Loy. L.A. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 371 (2019):

More than twenty-five years ago, I had the good fortune to be a Loyola Law School (“Loyola”) student and a member of the Loyola Law School International and Comparative Law Journal (“ILJ”). One of the highlights of my law school career was having my comment published in the ILJ: Legal Education in the United States and England, A Comparative Analysis, 13 Loy. L.A. Int'l & Comp. L.J. 601 (1991) [hereinafter Legal Education]. 

Many things have changed since then. The ILJ changed its name to the International and Comparative Law Review. I graduated from Loyola, clerked for two amazing jurists, the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcón, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Honorable Lourdes G. Baird, United States District Court for the Central District of California, worked as a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and, for more than thirteen years, worked for the United States Department of Justice. For the past eight years, I have had the honor to serve as a United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Central District of California. 

Other things, however, have thankfully remained the same. Professor Laurie Levenson, who was my mentor throughout law school, continues to be my mentor (as she is for so many others). She and I are co-leaders of a Girl Scout Troop for girls experiencing homelessness and it never ceases to amaze me how wonderful she is with the girls. I am as proud as I was the day that I graduated from Loyola to be an alumna. And, Loyola’s focus on social justice, with its emphasis on giving back to those less fortunate, continues to be a model for law schools across the country.