ABSTRACT
THESTUDYOFLAWASALIBERALART377 inginstitutionofthecountry,sawthreedeeptruths.Thefirst was,thataUniversitytraininginlaw,indeedaliberalartsstudy ofanything,forthedoerintheart,ifitistoberight,mustbe technicallysolid,technicallyreliable,inaword,craftsmanlike.You mustlearntodraw,beforeyoucanbefreetodistort,ormerelyto feelandexpress.Youmustlearntodraft,beforeanylegalvision youmayhaveorlearncantakeshapeinaworkable,working measure.ThesecondthingthatLangdellsawwasthathistory, carefullystudied,isonegoodroadtounderstanding.Depthisof theessence,andthetime-dimensionisonemainroadtodepth. Langdell'sthirdinsightneedsnolessattention,inthesedecades whensomuchnoiseisdevotedto"WhatFieldsofLawandHow MuchofEachShallWeIncludeintheCurriculum?"Thatthird deepinsightwenttoamethodofinstruction,andalsotoasubject-matterofinstruction,eachofwhichranindependentofany suchparticular"FieldsofLaw"asContracts,Trusts,EquityJurisdiction,oranyotherofthose"Subjects"whichstilltypifyand stultifyaLawSchoolCatalog.Langdell'snewmethodofinstructionwasbywayofdetaileddiscussionofanhistoricalsequenceof selectedappellatecases,presentedintheconcrete,presentedin full,studiedbeforetheclass-hourbythewholeclass,andavailable, duringthehour,formicroscopicre-examination.Langdell'snew subject-matterwhichtranscendedanyparticulardoctrinalsubject-matterwaslegalanalysis,legalreasoning,legalargument,and legalsynthesis.Agenius.Puttogetherwithaquestfordevelopingoutofthedisorderedcase-lawofthatdaysomeunderlying principlesofsubstantivedoctrine,onehadhereacombination that,incontrasttoanycheaptrade-schoolteaching,couldwell appearworthyoftheeffortsofaUniversity,anditisnowonder that(especiallyinAmes'watered-downpopularization)theidea begantosweepthediscipline.
