That’s what a new report from the Carnegie Foundation advocates. Story and links available here. Many friends and former law-school classmates have told me that law school is mostly an expensive hurdle for would-be lawyers to get over before they actually learn lawyering skills on the job. If law schools want to do more to train their students in “practical” things, that’s fine. Presumably students wouldn’t have to take so many courses in legal fields that they will never encounter. But why not consider shortening law school from its current three-year norm (or at least giving students an option of a one- or two-year program) and see what works best? Some law firms might prefer to get younger associates who will learn on-the-job as opposed to older ones who have spent more time in law school. What legal education needs is not a new model, but deregulation so that different models can compete.