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 Columbia College Law School.

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COLUMBIA COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL, NEW YORK. By Prof. Theodore W. Dwight. rFvHIS institution came into existence I about thirty years ago (Nov. 1, 1858). It was considered at that time mainly as an experiment. No institution resembling a law school had ever existed in New York. Most of the leading lawyers had obtained their training in offices or by private reading, and were highly sceptical as to the possibility of securing competent legal knowledge by means of professional schools. Legal education was, however, at a very low ebb. The clerks in the law offices were left almost wholly to them selves. Frequently they were not even 20

acquainted with the lawyers with whom, by a convenient fiction, they were supposed to be studying. Examinations for admis sion to the bar were held by committees appointed by the courts, who, where they inquired at all, sought for the most part to ascertain the knowledge of the candidate of petty details of practice. In general, the examinations were purely perfunctory. A politician of influence was not readily turned away. Few studied law as a sci ence; many followed it as a trade or as a convenient ladder whereby to rise in a political career.