Rethinking of law schools in times of systemic change. How to bring law school into twenty-first century? Polish perspective

Olga Piaskowska , Piotr Piesiewicz

Abstract

To prepare law students to be efficient lawyers, European law schools need to reinvent themselves. This article presents the reform proposal we created for our university in 2016-2017. It is based on our experience as students, academics and practitioners. According to us, law schools while reinventing curricula should focus on interdisciplinarity and cooperation. The law schools should create a platform for cooperation with the business community, whose objective will be to work together on the substantive content of particular classes (especially in higher years of study) so students will become familiar with current problems during their studies. Law schools should also take into account the path students can choose after graduation. The fact is the Polish law schools treat every single student in the same way under the assumption that after graduation student will become a lawyer, and choose the classic path to become for example a judge or an advocate (attorney at law). The reality is however completely different. We see the law as a living instrument, so we have found new methods of teaching. We believe only all these changes put together, combined with the development of an integrated system of teaching and methods, will allow creating a law school of the future.