Paul Schiff Berman Interview: Insights on Legal Education, Law School and Building a Legal Career

^{Last Updated: September 2026}

Paul Schiff Berman has spent much of his career examining how legal education can prepare students not simply to understand existing law, but to participate meaningfully in the profession and in the development of legal institutions. When Top-Law-Schools.com originally interviewed Berman in December 2009, he was serving as dean of Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. The discussion covered legal education, professional preparation, admissions, personal statements, career services, experiential learning, and the expanding range of careers available to people with law degrees.

Although some school-specific policies and statistics discussed in the original interview reflect the period in which it was conducted, many of the broader themes remain highly relevant to prospective law students and current J.D. candidates. Students evaluating their options today should supplement historical interviews with current school information and resources for choosing a law school and planning a legal career.

Editor's Note: References to particular Arizona State University admissions policies, scholarships, programs, employment statistics, tuition rules, or administrative practices reflect information available at the time of the original 2009 interview and should not be treated as statements of current policy.

Rethinking What Legal Education Should Accomplish

One of the strongest themes in Berman's discussion was the idea that law school should connect legal theory with professional practice. He argued that students benefit when their education exposes them to lawyers, policymakers, government institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other professionals outside the traditional classroom environment.

At the time, Berman pointed to public-policy incubators and think tanks as examples of ways law schools could integrate academic study with the professional world. His broader point was that legal education should help students understand not only what the law currently says but also how laws and policies are created, challenged, interpreted, and improved.

That approach remains valuable for students considering how to build practical experience while earning a J.D. Modern law students can pursue clinics, externships, research opportunities, public-interest projects, internships, and other forms of experiential learning. LawCrossing's guide to career readiness for law students similarly emphasizes developing practical skills and workplace awareness before graduation.

Law Students Should Learn to Influence Policy, Not Just Interpret Rules

Berman also emphasized persuasive communication. Lawyers may spend substantial time writing briefs and conducting legal research, but many legal careers also require attorneys to persuade legislators, regulators, executives, clients, community organizations, and other decision-makers.

His discussion highlighted the importance of learning how to construct compelling arguments that can influence public policy. The underlying lesson is broader than any particular law-school curriculum: students should think about legal writing as one part of a larger communication skill set.

Strong lawyers must be able to explain complicated issues clearly, advocate for solutions, and adapt their communication to different audiences. Students can begin developing those abilities through legal writing classes, moot court, clinics, journals, internships, advocacy organizations, and other practical experiences.

Connecting Law School with the Professional World

Berman's view of legal education challenged the idea that law school and professional life should exist as completely separate stages. His goal was to make the transition from student to professional more seamless by giving students meaningful exposure to the environments in which lawyers actually work.

That principle remains important when selecting courses and extracurricular activities. Law students should ask whether an opportunity will help them understand how lawyers solve problems, communicate with clients, work in teams, exercise judgment, or navigate professional institutions.

LawCrossing's discussion of turning coursework into career capital offers a similar framework: students can treat classes, research projects, writing assignments, clinics, and experiential opportunities as building blocks for their future professional profile.

Choosing a Law School for More Than Rankings

During the original interview, Berman discussed several programs that differentiated Arizona State at the time, including professional opportunities, externships, career services, and flexible academic options. Because individual programs change, applicants should verify the current offerings of any law school directly.

The broader lesson, however, remains useful: applicants should look beyond a school's name or ranking and investigate what the institution will actually provide during their three years of study.

Prospective students may want to evaluate:

Clinics and experiential-learning opportunities
Faculty strengths in areas they may want to study
Career-services resources
Alumni networks
Externship and internship opportunities
Geographic access to employers
Student organizations
Public-interest programs
Clerkship support
Employment outcomes
Cost and scholarship conditions
Academic flexibility

Choosing a school should involve understanding how its resources align with a student's educational, financial, and professional goals rather than relying on a single metric.

What Law Schools May Look for Beyond Numbers

The admissions portion of the original interview included observations from Arizona State's admissions leadership about evaluating applicants beyond GPA and LSAT scores. The interview emphasized that numerical credentials are important but do not necessarily explain the full potential or background of an applicant.

Personal statements, addenda, recommendations, work experience, academic interests, and life experience can provide additional context.

Applicants should remember that admissions practices vary among law schools and change over time. A student applying today should always consult each school's current application instructions rather than relying on historical policies concerning LSAT scores, deferrals, scholarships, or residency.

Using an Addendum Effectively

One practical distinction discussed in the original interview was the difference between a personal statement and an addendum.

An addendum can provide concise factual context for an aspect of an application that might otherwise raise questions, such as an unusual semester, a testing issue, or another circumstance affecting academic performance.

The personal statement generally serves a different purpose. It gives applicants an opportunity to communicate who they are, how they think, what experiences have shaped them, and what they may contribute to a law-school community.

Keeping these purposes separate can help applicants avoid turning the personal statement into a lengthy explanation of weaknesses.

What Makes a Strong Law School Personal Statement?

The original interview described a strong personal statement as a well-written and compelling story that helps the admissions committee understand the applicant as a person. It also stressed proofreading, editing, specificity, and understanding the school to which the applicant is applying.

That advice remains useful.

A strong personal statement should generally:

Give the reader insight that cannot simply be obtained from the résumé
Tell a coherent and memorable story
Demonstrate clear and polished writing
Reveal something meaningful about the applicant's experiences, motivations, values, or perspective
Avoid unnecessary repetition of information already included elsewhere
Follow the school's specific instructions
Be thoroughly proofread

Applicants looking for additional guidance can explore the Top-Law-Schools.com Personal Statements section and discussions in the TLS personal-statement forum.

Should Applicants Tailor Their Applications to Individual Law Schools?

Another point emphasized in the interview was the value of researching a school rather than sending an entirely generic application. Applicants who understand a school's programs, strengths, culture, and opportunities are better positioned to explain why the institution makes sense for their goals.

That does not mean inserting a school's name into otherwise identical essays. Effective customization should be substantive. An applicant may identify a particular clinic, faculty area, experiential program, geographic advantage, interdisciplinary opportunity, or institutional characteristic that genuinely connects with the applicant's background or interests.

The TLS forums contain long-running discussions about whether and how applicants should personalize their application materials, including debates over generic versus school-specific personal statements.

Letters of Recommendation Should Provide Substance

The interview also offered an enduring lesson about recommendation letters: the status of the recommender may matter less than the person's ability to describe the applicant meaningfully.

A professor, employer, supervisor, or mentor who knows a candidate well can often provide more useful information than a prominent individual who has had little substantive interaction with the applicant.

Strong recommendations typically give concrete examples of qualities such as intellectual ability, writing, initiative, judgment, maturity, reliability, leadership, resilience, or professional potential.

Applicants should give recommenders sufficient time and provide useful background information so they can write a detailed letter rather than a generic endorsement.

Intellectual Curiosity Matters

The original discussion also emphasized intellectual curiosity. Applicants come from many academic backgrounds, and no single undergraduate major is required for law school.

Students may arrive from the sciences, engineering, humanities, business, social sciences, technology, or countless other disciplines. What often matters is whether their academic record demonstrates serious engagement, analytical ability, and a willingness to learn.

Applicants should therefore think less about whether they selected the "correct" major and more about what their academic experiences demonstrate about their development.

Legal Careers Extend Far Beyond BigLaw

One of the most evergreen sections of the interview concerned career expectations. Arizona State's career-services discussion cautioned students against assuming that large law firms represent the entire legal profession.

That lesson remains important.

Legal careers may include:

Large, midsize, and small law firms
Government agencies
Judicial clerkships
Public-interest organizations
Corporate legal departments
Compliance
Regulatory work
Legal operations
Policy
Academia
Consulting
Alternative legal services
Technology and legal innovation
Business roles where legal training provides an advantage

Students who define success too narrowly may overlook careers that better match their interests and preferred working style.

LawCrossing's Building Career Clarity: A Practical Guide for Law Students encourages students to explore practice areas, gain hands-on experience, seek mentorship, and make deliberate career decisions rather than assuming there is only one acceptable path.

Career Planning Should Begin During Law School

The original interview described early involvement by career-services professionals, including résumé preparation, career coaching, networking, interviewing practice, externship support, and exposure to different practice environments.

Students do not need to know exactly what they want to do on the first day of law school, but waiting until graduation to think about employment can significantly limit their options.

Early career planning can include:

Exploring practice areas
Meeting attorneys and alumni
Participating in informational interviews
Building relationships with professors
Developing a strong legal résumé
Gaining internships or externships
Improving interviewing skills
Participating in clinics
Learning how different legal workplaces operate
Identifying transferable professional skills

LawCrossing's The Career-Minded Law Student: Planning Beyond Graduation similarly recommends integrating academic choices, practical experience, networking, and skill development throughout law school.

Networking Is a Professional Skill

The interview also described networking events, alumni mentorship, small-firm outreach, and opportunities for students to meet practicing attorneys.

Networking is sometimes misunderstood as simply asking people for jobs. A more useful approach is to view networking as the development of long-term professional relationships.

Law students can build those relationships by:

Speaking with alumni about their career paths
Attending bar-association events
Joining practice-area organizations
Participating in school events
Following up with attorneys they meet
Seeking mentors
Maintaining contact with professors and former supervisors
Helping classmates and professional contacts when possible

These relationships can provide information, mentorship, referrals, perspective, and opportunities throughout a lawyer's career.

Experiential Learning Can Clarify Career Direction

Externships, clinics, internships, and other practical opportunities do more than strengthen a résumé. They allow students to test assumptions about different types of legal work.

A student who believes litigation is the right path may discover a greater interest in regulatory work. Someone focused on a large-firm career might find public-interest practice more rewarding. Another student may discover an interest in transactional work only after working directly with business clients.

The earlier students gain exposure to different professional environments, the easier it becomes to make informed decisions about courses, internships, and post-graduate opportunities.

The Larger Lesson from Paul Schiff Berman's Approach to Legal Education

Perhaps the most useful lesson from Berman's interview is that law school should not be treated solely as an academic exercise.

Legal education is most valuable when students connect intellectual development with professional development. Learning doctrine is important, but so are writing, judgment, advocacy, communication, practical experience, relationships, and an understanding of how legal institutions operate.

Students who use law school to explore those dimensions of professional life are more likely to leave with more than a degree. They can graduate with a clearer sense of where their strengths fit within the legal profession and with the skills and relationships necessary to begin building a sustainable career.

LawCrossing's Law Student Career Framework for Long-Term Success reinforces that broader approach by connecting academic planning, practical experience, professional skills, networking, career narrative, and adaptability.

Key Takeaways for Prospective and Current Law Students

The original Paul Schiff Berman interview may have been conducted in a different period of legal education, but several lessons remain relevant:

Law school should connect classroom learning with professional practice.
Students should develop persuasive communication skills in addition to traditional legal analysis.
Practical experience can help students understand what type of legal career actually suits them.
Applicants should use personal statements to communicate something meaningful about themselves.
Application addenda should generally provide concise context rather than dominate the personal statement.
Strong recommendation letters come from people who genuinely know an applicant's work and character.
Students should evaluate law schools based on resources, opportunities, cost, career outcomes, and personal fit rather than a single ranking.
Career development should begin early in law school.
Networking, experiential learning, and professional relationships can be as important to long-term career development as classroom performance.
A law degree can lead to many different careers beyond traditional large-firm practice.

For students navigating the transition from law school to employment, LawCrossing's guide to building a competitive law student career profile provides additional guidance on courses, experience, skills, networking, and professional positioning.

Related Top-Law-Schools.com Interviews and Resources

Related LawCrossing Resources

Related Top-Law-Schools.com Forum Discussions

For additional perspectives from law-school applicants, students, and graduates, visit these TLS forum resources:

This article is an updated evergreen presentation of a Top-Law-Schools.com interview originally published in December 2009. School-specific policies, programs, statistics, and admissions practices mentioned in the historical interview should be verified directly with the relevant law school before being relied upon.