Jan 17, 2012 By: yunews
Professors Lela Love and Ellen Yaroshefsky Debate the Merits of Cardozo's Pioneering Litigation and Mediation Programs
鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to learn theory,鈥 says alumna, Hon. Gia Morris 鈥95, 鈥渂ut that will never compare to actually doing something for real.鈥
Morris knows what she鈥檚 talking about. As a newly minted Interim Civil Court judge assigned to Bronx criminal court鈥攐nly recently appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg鈥攕he鈥檚 still in training, sitting in on cases with her more experienced colleagues, and performing in mock trials with her peers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really the best way to learn,鈥 says Morris.
Rebecca Auster Freedman, Cardozo 鈥10, agrees. A contract specialist at NYU School of Medicine who often handles delicate negotiations, she says that 鈥渕any classes in law school employ the Socratic Method鈥攍istening to lectures and then getting called on to answer questions. But you learn so much more when you鈥檙e forced to do whatever it is you鈥檙e being taught.鈥
This sort of experiential learning drew both women to Cardozo Law, and it remains central to two of the school鈥檚 most innovative programs: (ITAP) and Intensive Mediation Advocacy Program (IMAP).
The courses sit on opposite sides of the same coin: ITAP teaches students to litigate while IMAP teaches them to mediate. But while the goals might differ, each program relies on a similar methodology. Both ITAP and IMAP force students to step out from behind their text books鈥攁nd often their comfort zones鈥攖o practice the techniques of their trade in front of experts in the field. The hours are long, the work load intense, and the pace unforgiving, but in the end, students emerge from what is often described as legal boot camp with practical experience that, according to Morris鈥攚ho took the program in 1995鈥斺漡ives you a level of training, and an advantage, that your peers won鈥檛 have in your first jobs.鈥
鈥淭his is the first time students get to be lawyers,鈥 she says, after a pause. 鈥淒on鈥檛 underestimate how amazing that can be.鈥
