Friday, April 23, 1948
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Page 5
Law Students Get Legislative, Judicial,
Administrative Training Says Beutel
The University's Law College
has not one but two histories,
said Dean Frederick K. Beutel in
an interview Monday. "When I
came here in 1945 this was an
1
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The students draft regular briefs
and try cases in a manner similar
to trials conducted in actual
court.
A new legal aid clinic has been
established in the law school
building which takes cases for
people who are unable to pay
lawyer's fees. The students do
the legal work under the di
rection of members of the local
barristers club, who are prac
ticing lawyers. Many leading law
schools have this type of service.
Selective Registration
Another innovation of Dean
Beutel's is selective registration.
Applicants for admission to the
Law College must pass legal apti
tude examinations. "At present,"
he said, "we are taking only about
60 per cent of the applicants.
Classes can therefore be conduct
ed on a higher professional level
than would be possible without
such selection." He added that
Nebraska is cooperating with
about 10 or 15 leading law schools
in the selection process.
"By these tests we are able to
eliminate in advance those people
who are sure to fail, so that our
failuie rate has dropped down to
about 20 per cent. In the past,"
the dean continued, "about 50 per
cent of the students in the Law
I College didn't make it."
Met Entourage to Migrate Here
For 'Tosca' Production Soon
When the Metropolitan Opera
company, making its first coast-to-coast
tour in 20 years, moves
into Lincoln next week for its
single appearance in the midwest
between Denver and Minneapo
lis, the event will be little short
of a whole migration!
A total personnel of 300, re
quiring two trains to accommo
date equipment for the nation
wide tour, will arrive at 1 and 2
p. m. Wednesday, April 28, to
present "La Tosca" by Puccini at
8:30 p. m. in the University Coli
seum, under the sponsorship of
the Lincoln symphony orchestra
association.
Included in the extensive en
tourage are the Met's full or
chestra of 88 pieces, the entire
90-voice stage chorus, and a
highly-trained technical crew, in
addition to the four principals.
Mr. Edward Johnson, distin
guished general manager, travels
with the group.
The soloists are Regina Resnik,
American-born soprano who has
become a leading Met performer
since joining the company just
four years ago; Swedish tenor
Jussi Bjoerling, who has been
heard in more than 50 roles
throughout the musical world;
John Brownlee, Australian bari
tone who won success at Covent
Garden and the Opera Comique
before joining the Met roster in
1935; and finally, Salvatore Bac
caloni, celebrated basso buffo
whose comic antics have made
him a top-notch favorite with
Metropolitan audiences.
DEAN BEUTEL
empty building. Every member of
the staff is new. The curriculum
is new. We opened our second
'session' in January 1946 with 80
students. We now have 233 and
are still growing."
The college's pre-war history
began in 1891, the Dean con
tinued, operating steadily until
1942 when its faculty and stu
dents went off to war.
Three Features
The present cirriculum was or
iginated by Dean Beutel, with the
asistance of the faculty which he
has built up since 1945. It has
three features which are unique
in law schools in this country,
based on the Dean's belief that
lawyers shoud be trained for ad
ministrative and 1 e g i s 1 a t ive
branches of government as well
as judicial.
The outstanding feature is em
phasis on public law which Dean
Beutel defines as "the law that
governs operations of the govern
ment." Fifty years ago when law
school curricula were established,
he commented, "government was
a necessary nuisance, which had
very little part in our every day
life or in the parctice of law."
Public Law Vital
"Today almost 25 per cent of
the national income is spent for
federal government and one third
to one of of our national in
come is spent for government as
a whole," he continued. "Govern
ment interferes with everything
we do, so public law has risen
to tremendous importance in the
practice of every lawyer and in
everybody's daily activity."
Dean Beutel's experience in re
sponsible positions in the federal
government have convinced him
that the average graduate of a
law school employed in the gov
ernment knows nothing about
public law!
"Since most heads and many
responsible employers of govern
mental departments are first
trained as lawyers," he said,
"there is great need for broader
legal training in the basic
science of government."
The second original feature of
the new curriculum is the teach
ing of legislation. Legislation, the
dean explained, is the means by
which law grows and changes,
and today practically all of our
law has its roots in whole or in
part in enactments of various
state legislatiures and the national
Congress." Most legislators are
lawyers, he continued, and thus
many lawyers constantly work
with legislation. "They should
learn to make laws, inlerpet the
law and use it in administrative
government," he said. A new
legislative laboratory will be
started next fall to complete the
cycle of legislative study.
The third original feature is
instruction in all court procedure
by practice laboratory methods.
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