NCJ Number
106437
Journal
Missouri Journal of Dispute Resolution Volume: 1986 Dated: (1986) Pages: 63-71
Date Published
1986
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Empirical data from law students indicates that law schools can teach the practical negotiation skills that are regularly needed by lawyers and that law school grades are not a reliable predictor of an individual's ability to perform these tasks.
Abstract
The study used two sets of data. The first set consisted of comparisons of class rank and grades in the negotiating achievement portion of a clinical negotiating course during a total of 8 years at two law schools: University of California at San Diego and University of Illinois. No significant relationship existed between these two types of data. The second data set came from the students who completed a negotiations exercise in a trial advocacy course in the 1982-83 and 1983-84 academic years at the University of Illinois. The 51 students who had previously taken the author's course in negotiations received significantly higher grades than the 187 students who had not taken the negotiations course. Law firms may need to reconsider their degree of reliance on class rank in the hiring process and to place more emphasis on the applicants' performance in clinical courses. Data tables and 16 footnotes.