Internationalization and Integration of Doctrine, Skills and Ethics in Legal Education

The Contrasting Situations of the United States and Japan

Abstract

This article addresses two trends in U.S. legal education: internationalization and integration ― more specifically, integration of doctrine, skills and legal ethics. Although international and comparative law, skills training and legal ethics all have deep historical roots in U.S. legal education, the past few decades have seen major increases in each of those areas. A particularly noteworthy recent development is the rise in efforts to integrate skills training and attention to ethical issues with doctrinal analysis, rather than just teaching each of those elements separately. After surveying the history of internationalization, skills training, and education in ethics at U.S. law schools, this article discusses the recent developments. The article then examines various forces that have fostered the trends before closing with comparative observations on the situation in Japan.