Dean Kagan spoke about Harvard Law School’s groundbreaking changes in curriculum implemented last year. For more than 130 years, Harvard’s curriculum has been modeled on the case method of legal instruction pioneered by Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell in 1882. Indeed, the case method continues to serve as the foundation for most law school instruction.

Shortly after taking the helm, Dean Kagan spent "a lot of time talking to alumni and faculty who felt that our curriculum needed to catch up with the changing nature of the law in the world." A nine-member committee was formed, including Kagan, seeking to answer, "What are the attributes and goals of great law schools in the 21^st century?"

"How we train lawyers has a ripple effect," Kagan said. "It has an effect far beyond both lawyers and the legal profession, extending to every one of you and in fact, to everyone in this country and the world beyond it."

At Harvard, there was agreement among all those consulted that change was needed in three key areas: providing students with an international perspective, providing more training in the legislative and regulatory process, and guiding students in shaping their upper-level studies so they can develop a particular focus without being narrowed into specialists.