Law schools: time to get practical?

Is there more to judging law school graduates than a mere grade transcript?

Absolutely, according to former Florida Bar President Ben Hill, founder and partner in Tampa's Hill Ward & Henderson.

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"We, like other law firms, get resumes from law students. We, like other law firms, look at the academic achievements, and in the past we have tended to interview straight-A students," he said. "We have learned that is not the only indicia of performance. We have learned to look beyond grades, and we try to determine the character and fitness of someone coming out of law school."

Variations of that theme were repeated several times at a symposium held at the Bar's Annual Convention by the Standing Committee on Professionalism. Called "It's More than Grades: Matching Law School Preparation with Employers' Needs," the symposium presented views on what law schools are doing right and wrong, and sparked a lively discussion.

It began with presentations by five speakers and was then followed by a round-table discussion moderated by John Berry, director of the Bar's Legal Division.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince welcomed the participants, noting the symposium was the outgrowth of recent retreats by the court's Commission on Professionalism and the Standing Committee on Professionalism, which looked at ways to enhance competence of graduating law students.

"I believe that we are going to be hearing not just about grades in law school, but other things that matter when our students go out into the working work, such things as character and clinical experience as well as their academic achievements," Quince said. "I think this is such an important topic and our law students, of course, are the future of our profession."

Erik Matheney, hiring partner on Hill Ward and Henderson, followed up on Hill's comments about hiring new lawyers for the firm.

He said the firm went through a period when it was enamored in hiring and offering clerkships to the top students from the top law schools.

"What we found out was although these people had strong resumes, and were very bright, they weren't the type of candidates we needed at our firm, and more importantly, they weren't the people who could provide the services our clients looked for," he said.

Matheney said those students were over competitive to the point of being cutthroat, adding, "If a person has been so cutthroat in law school that they can't develop interpersonal relationships, that's not going to be helpful to us in the firm and helpful to our clients."

He said they also, despite academic achievements, lacked practical experience and judgment.

Instead, the firm began looking for students with a variety of experiences, who could work on their own but were not afraid to ask for help when they needed and knew how to act appropriately in a variety of situations. And, interestingly, they looked for students who experienced--and overcame--failure.

"Many of the people who have done well have never experienced failure, and don't know how to handle that," Matheney said. "As a lawyer, it's important to be able to learn from and overcome failure.... I've learned far more from the cases I've lost than the cases I've won."

Matheney's comments echoed those presented by former Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero, who...