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A s we go about our days sitting in class and walking through the halls of this beautiful building, it’s easy to forget that not just a couple years ago, the FIU College of Law did not exist. Within just a few short years, the College of Law has made significant strides. Moving from a cramped space in the Green Library to a huge building, enrolling a large and diverse student body and faculty, the fastest accreditation in history, and a respectful bar pass rate. These accomplishments are due in large part to the efforts of one man; Dean Leonard Strickman. We sat down with the Dean to gain some insight into this legendary figure.
Dean Strickman Ipsissima Verba: I noticed that you were once pre-med and decided to go to law school instead. What motivated that change?
Dean Leonard Strickman: I found the prospect of Organic Chemistry to be intimidating.
IV: Looking back at your experience as a law student, what memories do you hold most fondly?
LS: I loved law school. That’s probably true of most professors of law. People who hated law school never want to see it again. I had great professors. Alexander Bickel and Friedrich Kessler were particularly memorable teachers. The atmosphere at Yale was focused on law as public policy and I was always interested in that.
IV: What makes a good lawyer?
LS: First: good values. No unethical lawyer can be a good lawyer. Second: discipline. While I admire people in the fine arts in that they can be creative in ways lawyers can’t be, lawyers ultimately have to respond to the needs of their clients. I see lawyers as creative analysts. Not engineers or mathematicians. We are more creative than many professions, but ultimately our goals are practical. We have to temper our creativity with pragmatism. Third: good verbal skills, both written and oral, but particularly written. Fourth: good personality. Your client needs to feel connected with you. You have to have good interpersonal skills.
IV: Do you feel there is a any difference between FIU alumni and Harvard alumni as far as aptitude for practicing law?
LS: You can get a very good education at any law school in the United States. The similarities in law schools are greater than the differences.
The most effective legal education occurs when teachers and students engage each other and, together, engage the law. I would like to think that FIU is developing a tradition where such engagement is the norm.
IV: Do you think law school rankings demonstrate anything?
LS: They have some importance, not because they are intrinsically meaningful, but because many people think they are. I do believe that some law schools are better than others, but not necessarily because of the criteria that U.S. New & World Report uses.
IV: How were you able to attract such an impressive array of faculty to FIU?
LS: First, FIU was about to open a new public law school in a dynamic metropolitan area which had been the preserve of three private law schools.
That context allowed us to predict with near certainty that we would be able to attract good students. Students would be attracted to its diversity and affordability, and this in turn, would be attractive to professors. The positive reputation of FIU as a young, exciting university on the make also helped. Half the professionals in the United States would not live in Miami on a bet, but for large numbers it is a great attraction.
IV: What do you think are the most pressing issues facing American government in this day and age?
LS: The past seven years have brought tremendous erosion in the American constitutional concept of civil liberties because of attempts to dramatically narrow the concept of civil liberties. That would be the first area that comes to my mind. Second, again because of changes in past seven years, the accretion of authority by the executive branch of government at the expense of the legislative branch and judicial branch would be another major issue that needs to be addressed. Third, the issues of economic inequality which have always presented a challenge for our form of government have intensified since the start of this decade.
IV: If you had to start the FIU College of Law over again, what would you do differently?
LS: A small item. This building has many great strengths but plenty of mistakes were made; some by the architects and some by me. I would correct the mistakes I made and I would also hold the architects responsible in the areas they did. That said, I love this building.
IV: How will decreases in public funding to higher education affect FIU? In particular: (1) will FIU go quasi-private? And (2) will this affect any special programs and if so which ones?
LS: It is my goal that the current budget crisis will not impair our academic programs. I think that we have achieved that, albeit with difficulty, in the current year, with the certainty that further cuts will have serious negative impact next year. I have no doubt that we will need tuition increases considerably larger than they have been in the past in order to maintain our momentum and our quality. I am not happy about this.
But I also believe that it is premature to predict that we will become quasi-private.
IV: Are there any attempts to specialize outside of the international law field?
LS: I expect that our clinics will be more varied in public interest areas and will engage in more types of training in the years ahead. While I would like us to build special expertise in intellectual property and technology law in the near future, it is unlikely that we will be able to do so without substantial private donations because of our relatively small size, which is mostly a good thing, and our modest public budget. We should not embark on any new area of specialization until we are confident that we have the resources to excel.
IV: Any advice for future lawyers?
LS: (1) When in doubt about what to do, seek advice from someone whom you respect; (2) If you must act before you get advice, make the choice which is on its face the most ethical; (3) Remember that your profession is a noble one which gives lawyers the responsibility for our system of justice and the welfare of society, as well as for your client. |
