Fordham Law Students Find Collaboration is Key Skill to Success

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We clinical legal educators talk a lot about collaboration, but I sometimes wonder if our students see the value in learning and working collaboratively.  In my experience, two or more people in true collaboration add up to much more than the sum of the parts - if they can really listen to each other and figure out how to use each participant’s strengths and insights. 

I think I have learned to suspend my tendency to jump to conclusions, just a bit, and give myself time to appreciate the insights and ideas of others.  I think I have learned that some ideas are good, even if they are not my own, but I still wonder about my students.  Do they value collaboration and do they believe it is a skill that can be learned?  I am told my students will be going out into a world in which group work will be the norm and recent experience tells me that many of my students appreciate how important it is to develop their collaborative skills.

Here is Dan Gross, a student in Martha Rayner's clinic for International Justice, talking about how valuable the collaborative aspect of the work is to him.

-- Ian Weinstein