<p>That a course in “emotional intelligence” is considered a move towards “practicality” is symptomatic of a larger problem, IMHO. </p>
<p>Yes, client interaction is important, but pre-economic crash, I talked to scads of lawyers who firmly believe that they all add value to a business (i.e. they laughed when I said that lawyers are usually an overhead expense). Rather than teaching them “emotional intelligence”, why not teach them the financial and time constraints under which their clients operate? Why not teach them that regulating a business is not the same as creating it or understanding the technology/economics/distribution chain/etc. behind said business? At the very least, why not send them to the auto mechanic to fix a car or to get a scheduled tune-up, and explain that law firms have a shinier, classier version of functionally the same business model - i.e. selling your time?</p>
<p>Beyond that, I’m sort of perplexed as to why these are separate courses and not integrated with normal 2L and 3L coursework. A wills and trusts class, IMHO, should include drafting an estate plan; a patent course, drafting patents; civil procedure, drafting discovery requests. Most science courses have labs attached; perhaps law schools could develop a similar model.</p>