Abstract
When I need a good lawyer, I look for someone who is knowledgeable and conscientious and has integrity, but above all I want someone with good judgment. Though it is not that clear what we precisely mean when we talk about sound lawyering judgment, few would dispute its desirability and potential importance. Many are apt to question whether judgment can be taught in law school or any school. Nonetheless, I want to suggest that implicit in much of what we are doing in clinical legal education is trying to find ways to help law students exercise better judgment in their practices than they might otherwise on their own, both under our supervision and in the future. This article has two main sections. The first explores conceptually what is involved in exercising judgment. Drawing on literature in jurisprudence, legal ethics, philosophy, and the social sciences, I offer a set of ideas about good lawyering judgment. What are the special features, contours, and key conditions that mark its exercise? In what ways does it overlap with or differ from expert knowledge, systematic thinking, intuition, or common sense? The second section discusses learning about judgment as a pedagogical paradigm. In this section, I examine various assumptions about how learning in a profession takes place. I then describe some of the approaches and techniques used at the Hastings Civil Justice Clinic to encourage the development of good lawyering judgment.
Publication Title
Clinical Law Review
Volume
4
Issue
2
First Page
247
Recommended Citation
Mark N. Aaronson,
We Ask You to Consider: Learning About Practical Judgment in Lawyering,
4
Clinical L. Rev
247
(1998).
Available at:
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/clr/vol4/iss2/2