In today’s Pope Center piece, Duquesne Law School professor Jan Levine responds to the criticism of law schools (and especially legal-writing programs) made by Suffolk Law School professor Charles Rounds back in January — and Rounds replies to Levine.

I think this is an excellent exchange. Professor Levine probably wouldn’t go quite as far as I do in denouncing law school as serving almost no function other than a barrier to entry that benefits the legal profession, but his remarks clearly show a considerable degree of skepticism about the balance of costs and benefits in most law schools. He is correct in observing that very few law profs want to bother with the time-consuming, frustrating task of trying to get students to write competently. In that respect, law school is just an extension of the sorry state of affairs that predominates from grade school through college.