Legal News

Berkeley Calls for Research into LSAT Alternative; Testing for Empathy?

By Dan Slater

Two years ago we had some fun noting that, beginning with the June 2007 LSAT exam, the test would undergo changes. The big change? Not a jettisoning of the blasted “games” section, but rather a tweak to the reading comprehension part. Instead of a single passage with questions, a new “comparative reading” section would feature two passages attached to a single set of questions. The head of LSAT Test Prep at Kaplan called it “probably one of the most significant changes we’ve seen in 15 years.”

Berkeley law prof Marjorie Shultz (pictured) thinks they can do better, reports the Recorder. Shultz and Berkeley psychology prof Sheldon Zedeck have been studying alternatives to the LSAT. They recently published their findings in a 100-page report. They say the LSAT, with its focus on cognitive skills, does not measure for skills such as creativity, negotiation, problem-solving or stress management, but that they have found promising new and existing tests from the employment context that do.

On Monday, Berkeley law Dean Christopher Edley posted a message to a listserv for deans at ABA-accredited law schools highlighting some of the findings, and asking for support in building a case to expand the project.

“The driver is seeing if there are any non-cognitive factors that might have a potential bearing on success in law school or the legal profession,” Wendy Margolis, and LSAC spokeswoman told the Recorder. “We’re interested in making sure that we’re not missing any kind of measurement that might be useful.”

In earlier phases of their study, Shultz and Zedeck reportedly identified 26 factors that contribute to a lawyer’s effectiveness, such as negotiating skills, problem-solving and stress management.

We “need lawyers with the kind of skill sets that the world needs — like empathy, persuasiveness and the willingness to have the courage to do the right thing — which the LSAT does not measure,” said Jeffrey Brand, dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post referred to Marjorie Shultz as a former Berkeley law professor. In fact, she retired from the LSAT project in July, although she’s still a professor at Berkeley.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on November 07, 2008 (boomark / email).