“The law is what the lawyers are. And the law and the lawyers is what the school makes them”.

(Felix Frankfurter)

Law Students Competence in Oral Communication.

Parents want their children to grow and be more than they were able to be. They try to

help their child think about their future as early as possible because they do want to see them

succeed. The phrase “what do you want to be when you grow up?” was asked to me very often.

As a child, my answer to that question was—doctor, but I later found out I am terrified of blood,

or seeing people in pain in general—that definitely was not a good career path for me. From

then on, I was very confused about the route I wanted to take for to my profession. Around the

age of 13, I discovered that I loved learning about the law. I gained my influence mainly through

the media. I spent some of my free time watching various shows (i.e. Suits, Drop Dead Diva,

and etc.…) portraying how powerful an attorney can be. Those shows made me think about

becoming an attorney and work for large firms. I also had an interest in crime shows (i.e.

Snapped, Burn Notice, etc.…), those shows made me consider being a district attorney. At the

same time, I knew that arguing is not my strong suit. I do everything I can to avoid conflict.

Which can be great for that line of work. An attorney’s job is to basically be a mediator between

two people who have a conflict that involved the law. I am also a calm and quiet person. I

analyze everything before I act. How can I be a lawyer if I cannot be excellent in that particular

area? Junior year of High School, I received a law internship with Marriott Vacations

Worldwide through my AVID—Advancement via Individual Determination, course. Leaders

from Marriott Corporations came to my class and taught us about litigation, taxes, and etc.…

My internship mainly involved paperwork. I redacted, scanned and filed them. I was mentored

by most of the attorneys in the office. In the end, I had to do a presentation in front of all the

lawyers mainly to show what I gained from the experience. One of the things I learned is

opening and closing arguments for a court is not the only things lawyers do, and that it is a

common misconception for people outside the law field. But I still wondered how language is

spoken and written within the law community. In my ENC 1102 class, we were asked to

conduct research on something of our choosing. Since I have an interest in the law field, I

decided to study their community.

Synthesis

Schultz, McElhaney, and Gormley could agree that oral communication is a vital part of

an attorney’s career. They could also agree that students receive little to no help to improve their

communication skills.

Nancy L. Schultz was the director of Legal Research and Writing at the George

Washington University law center. She wrote this article titled “How do lawyers really think”?

She argued that Law Schools believe if they enhance their student’s analytical skills, then they

can learn from their own experiences once they are out practicing. Law schools do a great job at

intensively training their students with their research and analytical skills. What they lack to

teach them is how to conduct everyday conversation with people who did not attend law schools.

Lawyers often struggle with their communication because they do not know how to turn the

obscure vocabulary they learn in law school off to carry a normal conversation with their clients.

Author Jim McElhaney would agree with this. McElhaney is the Baker and Hostetler

Distinguished Scholar in Trial Practice at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in

Cleveland and the Joseph C. Hutcheson Distinguished Lecturer in Trial Advocacy at South

Texas College of Law in Houston. He wrote an article on the matter named “Stop sounding like

a lawyer”. One particular quote from his article is “Today, most lawyers share the disability of

having gone to law school. Law school is as much obscure vocabulary training as it is legal

reasoning”. (2) Yes, law schools do a great job at enhancing their students’ competence in legal

reasoning, but shouldn’t they get the same amount of training with their oral communication

skills? W. Paul Gormley is an author who would also agree with this. Gormley was an assistant

professor of Law at the Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1958. He holds degrees in Speech

(including a Ph.D. from University of Denver in 1952), as well as an LL. B (1957), and an LL.M

(1958) from George Washington University). He was admitted to the District of Columbia bar in

1958. Gormley wrote an article titled “Lawyers must be effective communicators”. He noticed

that law schools were not were not teaching their students in communication as much as they

should. And this article was to get the community aware of it. “The area of continuing legal

education should be more concerned with offering instruction in the general language area”. (3)

Gormley believed that communication should be a vital part of a students’ education during law

school.

Garth and Martin, Dilloff and Edward could agree that law schools are responsible to

teach their students what the law is and how to practice it. One of the skills newly attorneys need

in order to practice is communication skills. Law schools lack in helping students gain

competence in that area.

Bryant G. Garth and Joanne Martin wrote the article named “Law schools and the

construction of competence”. Garth was the Director and Martin was the assistant director of the

American Bar Foundation. They conducted a survey with attorneys asking them whether or not

they thought law school was helpful to what they are now practicing. One of the things the

survey attorneys complained about is that they did not receive any training in oral

communication. “Most court training and practical courses were helpful. However, courses

were mostly on esoteric topics of interest to the professor—not the market”. (469) Why don’t

law professors focus on helping their students gain the skills they will need once they are out

practicing? Is this the reason law graduates feel like what they have learned from law school is

not useful to an extent? Neil J. Dilloff is an author who could agree with this. He’s a diversified

national litigation practice includes significant experience in insurance, professional malpractice,

and construction litigation, as well as roles as lead counsel in many large, complex commercial

litigation matters. He has tried more than 100 cases in state and federal courts and has won two

of the largest plaintiffs' verdicts in Maryland history. Dilloff wrote the article named “Law

School Training”. He also conducted a survey. His included students on their senior year and

lawyers with a short time out in the field. Dilloff asked them what they wished law school

taught them. Their answers were mainly that they wished law school had better prepare them.

They wish they had contact with actual documents—pleadings (complaints, answer, and

motions), transactional documents, and etc.… (444) Garth and Martin stated that “legal

education and legal practice occupy two different worlds”. Which means what you learn from

law school may or may not be useful for practicing law. Are law schools becoming a place to

simply pay and get you degree? Students shouldn’t have to rely on their employers to gain the

skills (Oral communication) they need to practice. Harry T. Edward is another author who could

agree with this. He was a circuit judge for the United States court of appeal, for the District of

Columbia circuit. Edward wrote an article named “The growing disjunction between legal

education and the legal profession”. His article emphasized that law schools at the time were not

taking what they were teaching their students seriously. Edward talked about how law schools

have abandoned their proper place. “They are emphasizing abstract theory at the expense of

practical scholarships, and etc.…” (2) Are law schools lacking to help their students gain the

competence they need in oral communication because of expenses? Or do they simply not know

that their students struggle in their career because they received little to no help in that area?

My question as I began my research was “how lawyers’ oral/written communication

change depending on their field of practice”? As I read the input of professionals within the

community, I became more interested in ‘how well law schools help their students gain the oral

communication competence they need after they graduate from their program’? And the

evidence from my research shows that law schools lack helping their students be successful with

their oral communication skills.

Methods

I used various methods to gather data to further understand why law schools don’t really

focus on educating their students in that particular section. One of the strategies I used to collect

data was library resources. I used the UCF library database (JSTOR) to ask various questions

(i.e. How oral/written communication change between different fields of law? Why oral

communication is important in Law?). I also searched different terms— “oral communications”

between lawyers, communication between lawyers, and lawyer communication. My search

yielded a lot of articles. I went through them to determine which one best relates to my question.

I gathered ten articles using that strategy.

One of the other ways I collected data was through interview. I interviewed a family law

attorney—Sean Smallwood. I met him while I was at work—Boston Market. My interview data

was due within a week of October 16th. I was trying to get in contact with a judge I met through

my internship with Marriott Vacations, but no luck. So, I was kind of freaking out. I do know

other attorneys—mainly from my internship. But I did not really want to interview them because

I know a little bit about their line of work—corporate attorneys. So while I was at work, Sean

pulled up to my window. He paid me. Then he went on to continue his conversation on his

phone—which definitely was lawyerly stuff. I wanted to talk to him and ask for an interview,

but he was in the middle of an important phone call. So I decided to take his name down instead

since he paid with credit card. You can basically track any lawyer down using google search. I

learned that from my internship. My supervisor once had me look up a lot of attorney through

the internet—mainly to gain their contact information. Once I got off, I looked up his name and

found him. I emailed him asking for an interview. He replied within two days saying he would

love to help me out. I scheduled a date and time with him, and we met at his office. I used my

phone in order to record our conversation. The interview went on for 30 minutes. I later went

through it and gathered 10 soundbites—quotes from the interviewee, from the recording.

Smallwood is a graduate from Barry School of Law, and is the CEO of a law firm named

Smallwood P.A. I chose to interview him because he practices in a field I was not exposed to at

the time. This was my chance to learn about it, and at the same time I could gather information

for my research. Our main focus was on how his field of practice (family law) differ from other

fields of practice. His response was they are the same when it comes to the process you go

through as you prepare for court. You still have to debrief your witness, you have to talk to your

opposing counsel to try and find a settlement. The trial process is really what differed them. As

a family law attorney you are presenting your case to the judge. As a criminal law attorney, for

example, you are mainly presenting to a jury. The language used as to be leveled down a notch

because your jury members most likely do not hold a law degree. Once he explained that to me,

our conversation after became focused on how vital communication is to an attorney’s career,

and whether or not he thought law school helped him gained the competence he needed?

I also collected an online interview data. About a five days before the data collection

packet was due, I noticed that it said we needed to collect an online interview as well. I didn’t

really find it relevant to my project, but I did it for the sake of my grade. I watched several

videos off YouTube to make sure what I chose actually correlated with my research topic. I

ended up choosing a video named “What makes a good lawyer?” by Legal English. The

interview was conducted at City University of Hong Kong by the Department of English. The

interview consisted of three main questions: 1. what are the qualities of a good lawyer? 2. What

is the role of excellent English language and communication skills? 3. What are the main

challenges facing novice lawyers? I chose this video because it talks about the challenges a

lawyer is likely to face. And also because it talks about communication skills.

Another thing I did to collect data was an Observation. I chose to observe Stetson law

campus in Gulfport, Florida. It’s one of the schools I am considering attending for law school. I

figured this would give me a head start in learning what they expect and help me collect data I

need for my research. I called them a few weeks prior to when my data collection packet was

due and asked how they could help me with my project. The person who answered my call

suggest that I go in for a tour. She also mentioned that I could assist a class if I wanted to. I told

her I would do both, and set an appointment time with them for the 15th of October. They have a

small campus. And their bookstore is the smallest I have ever seen. All around campus, they

have bulletin boards, and those boards contain upcoming events. Near the admissions office,

there is a board specifically to help student find housing if they don’t want to live on campus.

After the tour, I assisted ‘Evidence I’. The class is to help students understand what kind of

evidence can go in trial, and was about 2 hours long. The class was held in a Socratic seminar

way towards the end—which is when the professor introduced new content. She expects her

students to read ahead. She calls on those who skips class often first to see if they have read

what she expects them to read.

The last strategy I used to gather data was genres—types of writing, attorneys would use.

I collected three types of genres: 1. Business card, 2. Insurance claim letter, 3. Affidavit. I

already had access to all three genres (from car accidents, and internship). I analyzed the

purpose of the genres in the field of law, and how it could be useful to further understand my

research question.

The most successful way I collected data was through my interview and the UCF

database (JSTOR). My interviewee (Smallwood) was very eager to help me. He answered every

question with plenty of details. He even made up cases just so he could have examples of what

he was talking about, and to make sure I fully understood what he was saying. JSTOR is more

of a law database. It’s the only one I used. I was able to read their articles without any trouble.

I found the most relevant articles to my subject using JSTOR.

The least successful way I collected data was genre. I understood the paperwork and

what they were used for. But I struggled with connecting it to my research. In a way it feels a

little bit irrelevant to my research question. My research is about why law schools are not

helping their students develop the oral communication competence they need once they are out

practicing. The paper work I analyzed is more about written communication and a little bit more

on the legal reasoning side. And law students get plenty of practice in those area.

Discussion

All the articles I read had different perspective on how well law schools are teaching their

students. But the main idea all the authors wanted to show is that oral communication plays a

vital part in an attorney’s career. And law schools should focus part of their curriculum on

helping their students gain the competence they need in that area. Law schools do a very great

job at prepping their students with skills that are necessary for the law field (i.e. legal reasoning,

legal writing, evidence, etc.…). Oral communication skills is also very important to an

attorney’s career. Why aren’t law schools focusing on helping their students master their skills

in that area as well? And how can law schools incorporate communication in their curriculum?

Subjects law schools currently focus on.

The two main subjects law school teach are legal reasoning and legal writing. These

courses help students develop the ability to think like lawyers. It helps them learn legal ethics

for practicing law. By the time they graduate, they pick up this intense vocabulary which can

make it difficult for attorneys to effectively communicate with people outside of the law field. I

asked my interviewee—Smallwood—whether or not it was difficult for him to talk to people

outside of the law field after he graduated from law school. His response was “I took it upon

myself to join the trial team in law school, because I wanted to be good at court presentation”.

Communication courses (i.e. speech) you take in law school are not very intensive. Students

have to take it upon themselves to learn more. Smallwood Joining the trial team made his

communication skills better after he graduated from law school.

Law schools’ main focus is to teach students what the law is, how to relate it to previous

cases (analytical skills), and etc.… After developing those analytical skills, the students need to

learn how to present that legal theory in words someone outside the law field could understand.

In other words, “don’t tell me what it says, tell me what it means”. (Online Interview—

Department of English at City University of Hong Kong; 3:29). This correlates to one of the

genres I gathered—the insurance claim letter. Along with that letter came a copy of what the

other party was claiming. But the main focus of the defendant’s attorney in that letter was what

everything meant, what is going to happen next, and how it will be taken care of. The insurance

company explained what the letter contained in words anyone without law experience could

understand. That is a skill law students need to master. And the way to do that is with the help

of the law school they are attending.

How oral communication training would benefit law students?

Communication training can help law students gain practice speaking/presenting in front

of an audience—which is necessary for trial. It can help the students learn how to effectively

communicate with others outside the law field. Donna F. Howard is a scholar who could agree

that helping law students gain the skill level in intercommunication can help them get pass the

difficulty they could potentially face as an attorney. In her article “Learning to listen, listening to

be heard”, Howard mentioned that there is no such thing as attaining a “perfect skill”. There will

always be room for improvement. Interpersonal communication skills are one of the things we

learn to master over a lifetime. (45) And law schools should be the first step in helping students

learn to master that skill.

With intense training in interpersonal communication, law graduates would have an

easier time interpreting law theories to others outside the law field. As Dilloff mentioned in his

article, law students need to unlearn the teenage slang they’ve adopted (i.e. “you know” after

every sentence, “like” before almost every word, and etc.…). (436) Practice is the way to do

that. As I was gathering soundbites from my interview with Sean Smallwood, I discovered that I

too have adopted the teenage language. If I was about to give him an example, “like” was the

first word out as a transition. It made me realize I have not gotten rid of that language as I

thought I did. I also realized that I fall back to it when I get really nervous. The teenage slang is

not very impressive to clients or other professionals around. As students if we are not receiving

any help from our schools, what hope do we stand as future attorneys? As Richard Bates from

the online interview mentioned, “our advice is our product”. We have to sell it in the most

impressionable way to clients. Having great communication skills is the way to do that.

Students also need to know that using big words as a lawyer is not impressive to listeners.

It makes them come across as very condescending and conceited as Sean Smallwood said to me

during the interview. Richard Bates also mentioned that junior lawyers have a “tendency” to

believe they have to sound “lawyerly”. In their minds, they picture their clients declining their

advice if it is not presented in a “legalistic way”. Bates mentioned that the reverse of what those

newly lawyers believe is true. Clients’ prefer advice presented in a simple, “plain” English way.

Some law students do end up leaving law school believing in this misconception. One way to

help those students is for law schools to start focusing more on interpersonal communication.

How can law schools help their students gain the communication skills they need?

Law schools can help their students gain their competence in interpersonal

communication by making oral communication part of their curriculum. That way students will

gain as much exposure to it, and in turn master the skill. Professors can also play a role in

helping their students develop their oral communication skills. One way they could do that it by

holding their class in a Socratic Seminar way. Students will both have practice speaking in front

of an audience, and they will have a hands on experience with the material they are learning. As

part of my observation, I assisted a class—Evidence I—at Stetson law. For most of the class

time the professor was doing review for a test and was the only one talking. Once she got to a

new chapter, she would call on students and have them explain their take on what they have read

(i.e. what was the case about? What kind of evidence were presented? Was the judge right to let

it in? Etc.…). By doing that, the students are presenting what they read in their own words to

their peers and their professor. Which in turn is helping them gain practice.

There are various ways professors could integrate communication as part of their courses.

Jane Korn is a scholar of could agree with that. Korn is the John D. Lyons professor at the

University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Korn’s article “Teaching Talking:

Oral Communication in a Law Course” is a journal of how she is helping her students gain the

oral communication skills they need. Korn required her students to make a graded presentation

on a research paper they had. It had to be about 45 minutes long and had to include other

components in addition to speaking. Her course helped her students build their presentation

skills, which in turn improved their communication skills. She taught her students everything

they would need to know throughout the course and helped them to successfully create their

presentation. (590-594) At the end of the course she asked her students whether or not they

thought their skills in oral communication had increased. Most of her students said the

competence had significantly increase after taking professor Korn’s class. (595) If each

professor takes the time to help their students with oral communication, they will master that

skill before they even graduate.

Conclusion

Research is always an ongoing conversation between people within a community. As I

mentioned, this research was originally going to be about how oral/written communication differ

between different fields of practice. However, I ended up research how well law schools help

their students gain competence with oral communication as I read articles from professionals

within the field of law. As Jane Korn mentioned in her article “the importance of good oral

communication skills is often overlooked. And at least one survey of new attorneys rated those

skills more important than writing skills”. (588) Mastering oral communication skills plays a big

role in the law community. Which is why law schools should further include oral

communication as part of their curriculum.

To further continue this research, one could look at whether or not expenses play a factor

in why law schools lack to help their students master that skill. Also, there is an ongoing debate

over what law students should learn from law school, and what they should learn from

internships. Could it be that law schools feel that students should learn to master that skill once

they are out in the field? At the same time, doesn’t that leave the law graduate unprepared for

their new career? These are some interesting point someone could look at if he/she would like to

further research this topic.

Work Cited

Lawyers Must Be Effective Communicators. W. Paul Gormley. American Bar Association

Journal, Vol. 47, No. 6 (JUNE 1961), pp. 572-575.

Stop sounding Like a Lawyer: Plain language works best to effectively tell the story of your

case. JIM McELHANEY. ABA Journal; Vol. 94, No. 11 (NOVEMBER 2008), pp. 34-35

Learning to Listen, Learning to Be Heard. Donna F. Howard. GPSolo, Vol. 23, No. 3, Law of

Learning (APRIL/MAY 2006), pp. 44-47. Published by: American Bar Association

How Do Lawyers Really Think? Nancy L. Schultz; Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 42, No. 1

(March 1992), pp. 57-73. Published by: Association of American Law Schools

Teaching Talking: Oral Communication Skills in a Law Course. Jane Korn. Journal of Legal

Education, Vol. 54, No. 4 (December 2004), pp. 588-596. Published by: Association of

American Law Schools

Law Schools and the Construction of Competence. Bryant G. Garth and Joanne Martin. Journal

of Legal Education, Vol. 43, No. 4 (December 1993), pp. 469-509. Published by: Association of

American Law Schools

LAW SCHOOL TRAINING: Bridging the gap between legal education and the practice of law.

Neil J. Dilloff. Stanford Law and Policy Review. Volume XXIV; II (2013).

The Growing Disjunction between Legal Education and the Legal Profession. Harry T. Edward.

Michigan Law Review. Vol. 91, No. 1 (Oct., 1992), pp. 34-78. Published by: The Michigan Law

Review Association

Department of English, City University of Hong Kong.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcZGS9SUkeY&index=2&list=WL