Budding Lawyers May Need to Show More Than Smarts

A study funded by the Law School Admissions Council, which administers the LSAT, aims at developing a new test which would test for something called "effectiveness."  The idea is to be able to predict, not just how well would-be attorneys will perform in law school, but how well they will ultimately function as lawyers.  Judges, law school professors, law firm clients and law graduates were surveyed, researchers asking them what qualities they looked for in a lawyer.  Important qualities were the ability to handle stress, the ability to research the law, the ability to write, and the ability to listen. A preliminary study of the test found that it did indeed predict lawyer effectiveness better than the LSAT.  Sources interviewed for The New York Times article see this test as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the LSAT.