A. Duncan School of Law Mission Statement
The mission of the Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law is:
- To provide legal educational opportunities for the people of the underserved regions of the United States.
- To offer solid, competent, practice-focused, legal education to students of widely disparate socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds with the goal that those students will successfully pass the Bar and with the thought that those students will return to and serve those communities from which they originate.
- To prepare lawyers for careers in law that enable them to address the underserved legal needs of Appalachia and other underserved regions.
B. Programmatic Learning Outcomes
ABA Standard 302 provides as follows:
A law school shall establish and publish learning outcomes that shall, at a minimum, include competency in the following:
- Knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law;
- Legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, problem-solving, and written and oral communication in the legal context;
- Exercise of proper professional and ethical responsibilities to clients and the legal system; and
- Other professional skills needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession.
PLO # 1: Graduates will use their knowledge of substantive and procedural law to accurately identify legal issues and apply law and facts to thoroughly analyze legal issues.
Graduates may demonstrate achievement of this learning outcome by:
- Applying knowledge of foundational concepts and principles of substantive and procedural law to identify which legal issues are implicated by client or hypothetical fact scenarios.
- Identifying and assessing relevant facts and gaps in information needed to evaluate a case.
- Using knowledge of substantive and procedural law to analyze and explain how rules of law apply to client or hypothetical fact scenarios, including anticipating and evaluating potential counterarguments.
- Analogizing client or hypothetical facts to, and distinguishing those facts from, precedent case facts.
- Reaching a sound legal conclusion when advising a client on a potential course of action or the likely outcome of a client’s case.
PLO # 2: Graduates will effectively identify, research, and synthesize sources of law.
Graduates may demonstrate achievement of this learning outcome by:
- Identifying legal sources that apply to or are needed to resolve a legal issue and assessing their weight of authority.
- Identifying and resolving ambiguities in law or articulating valid interpretations of the law.
- Developing and executing a research plan using available research tools and technology.
- Synthesizing different legal sources to extrapolate the rule of law needed to solve a legal problem.
PLO # 3: Graduates will exhibit the ability to ethically and professionally participate in the practice of law.
Graduates may demonstrate achievement of this learning outcome by:
- Identifying the ethical and professional responsibilities owed to clients, the legal system, and the public, including to those of limited means or within underrepresented communities.
- Analyzing and resolving professional responsibility issues that arise in the practice of law.
- Identifying the skills or values needed to responsibly and effectively manage a professional workload and develop a professional identity.
PLO #4: Graduates will be prepared to enter practice by demonstrating professional skills, using appropriate lawyering strategies, and applying problem solving techniques.
Graduates may demonstrate achievement of this learning outcome by:
- Using professional judgment to select effective lawyering strategies.
- Drafting and revising effective professional and legal documents or other written communications.
- Demonstrating effective oral communication skills.
- Demonstrating skill in persuasively advocating on behalf of a client.
- Counseling and advising clients in a manner consistent with their objectives, interests, and constraints.