Tao of Professionalism

Abstract

This article describes a lecture used to guide students in the need to integrate the teaching of professional values in a clinical course and the students need to approach learning as a lifelong process. The lecture titled: the Tao of Professionalism was given in the Albany Law School (ALS) orientation for a number of years. ALS’ clinical orientation is intended to impress upon the law students that they are professionals as opposed to observers. Students must understand that there are ethical rules that must be obeyed, and some that require judgment. The Tao lecture lays out a few simple concepts. First, that the things that we learn can be broken into two categories; concepts that are known and concepts that must be discovered. For that which is known, a lawyer can just look it up, but for those concepts that must be discovered, the lawyer must engage in a process of discovery. Concepts that are known are objective like a statute or regulation. Concepts that must be discovered are subjective such as values or skills. For that which must be discovered the lawyer continuously engages in three stages - teaching, reflection and experience. The Tao is just a restatement of traditional clinical methodology, but it makes it possible for me to share with the students the clinical legal education approach which is considerably different from the approach they have experienced in most of law school classes. Generally clinical legal programs seek to impress upon law students that their professional development will be lifelong and that the efficient way to continue that development is by combining experiences with reflections. The Tao lecture also encouraging the law student to be open to a diversity of instructive materials, but informs the student that they have the burden to decide what would apply in each situation.This article was publised as part of the UK Center for Legal Education Vocational Teachers Forum.