I want to share with you a
concern
I feel that university education in
Mexico and surely in other countries
is going through a deep crisis
how can we of the legal sciences
how can we from the university
public and private overcome this
crisis
a few years ago the harvard university
decided to put online so
complete a very famous course that gives the
professor michael sandel the course is
called josh is what the right thing you
do
justice that is the right thing to
we must do we can see that
course take it as if we were in a
classroom of harvard university
from our computer from a
tablet from a cell phone
we are saving of course the
$ 63,000 that costs a year to spend
in the harvard unit but also
we are learning things that
surely in the universities
Mexican women do not hear things that in
Mexican nights are not discussed
the question is why the students
should stand should early
make the effort to go listen to us
the classrooms
they should be taking notes and
paying attention to our classes
good regular or bad during a
semester to learn things that do not go
to be so bright and they are not going to
serve as surely as the
masterful lessons by michael sandel
at harvard and the answer is that they continue
going to listen to our classes
because they need to get a piece of paper
they visit a title that in turn is going to
open the doors to get a
professional license that will allow them
litigate
but this also has its days
counted has its days counted because
increasingly exists in education in
line and certificates are issued and
titles that also enable the
professional exercise in such a way that
we are immersed in a great crisis
we have to compete against all the
digital material that is on the Internet
free of charge and that students can
see at any time and we have to
compete also with a series of
challenges of which the university does not
is taking over challenges and
external to the university itself
for example in the united states the
enrollment in schools and faculties
of rights has fallen by 30% in the
last years
It is a trend that still in Mexico
you do not notice our schools and
Faculties of law are still
full of right the third race with
a higher enrollment throughout the country
the first is accounting the second
administration but this trend that
already showed up in america we’re going
reach some day we were going to have
empty seats in schools and
law faculties
how to do to continue offering a
education that serves an education
attractive to students is the
concern that I think should
exemplary a deep study an analysis
very arrested because in it you play the
present and the future of the students of
the teachers and of course the
own educational institutions that
we must teach in schools what is
what our
students
I think that if we could summarize it in
a single formula would tell you what
we have to teach in schools and
faculties of law is to think like
a lawyer to think like a lawyer who
it means this
what thing in particular we have to look for
for the development of our students
first of all teach them that today the
right e generates a complexity of
means of law sources we do not have
to turn to see nothing else our
codes our laws our
regulations
we have to turn to see the treaties
internationals that turn to see the
jurisprudence of courts that are
beyond our borders
we have to also warn about the
proliferation of sources of law
administrative as the official standards
Mexican women who are very abundant in
certain matters
then the first task is the
complexity the sources the second has
what to do with the capabilities
interpretative that we lawyers
in the part in practice
we interpret legal norms and this
interpretive capacity is not always
present in the graduates of the
schools and law schools there are
although it sounds paradoxical students that already
they have their title they already have their ID
and that however it is not
in correctly interpreting a standard
legal that is a task that we have
what to do with our students
in the race we also have to
teach them to solve specific cases
I remember very well that my teachers in
the Faculty of Law of the UNAM us
they made us memorize they made us memorize
articles and they made us memorize
concepts and then they asked us those
articles those concepts in the exam and
if we put ourselves in its literalness we
they put 10 and if a point did not fail and
eat and in all we put a comma nothing
more we were lowered a point which is the
utility of memorization in the
practice
you have known of a client that
a lawyer arrives at the office and
I asked licensed the concept of
empiteusis or what is the difference between
simple limited partnership and ties
limited by shares subject to which you
we devote weeks and weeks in the
career never seen it in practice not
there are clients who ask us to give them
concepts that we show how much
we memorized in the race that if we
ask to solve specific cases is what
the client arrives with a problem today
order that I rent my apartment and the
tenant does not pay me think I got married
very excited but it turns out that no longer
He also took me and wanted a divorce
in the best terms
notice that I just got fired from my
work and we have to solve those
cases where we have to learn to
do it in the race
we have to teach our
students to solve specific cases and
we are also teaching them to argue
together with the interpretation
argumentation is the most
important that a lawyer can have
because that way with a good
interpretation and taking the facts of
concrete cases we can build
arguments that are truly put
at the service of solving the
problems of the people who
requires what are the
preconditions so that we can
achieve this teaching of law that
consists of this formula that I just
denounce with you think like a
attorney
I believe that the first thing we have to
to do is develop our students
communicative skills
look at the oral hearings
we already have orality in a good number of
matters we have mercantile orality
we have now the criminal age of course
everybody knows
we have orality in family matters
we have orality in labor matters
we have an incipient orality in the
administrative procedure also and
see how lawyers communicate in
the audiences see what capacity they have
to convey ideas
I see there is a very important deficit a
deficit that we also have to fight
in legal education we have to
teach our students to
communicate more effectively
we have to teach them also to look
information
nowadays it is very difficult to find
the correct answer to the problems
that our clients ask us is not
easy to navigate in that ocean of
legal rules that are enriched
other week to week
oral hipolita week to week because
every Friday we publish new
jurisprudence thesis in the weekly
judicial of the federation
so there is one there is a real tangle
regulations in which our students
they have to know how to orient themselves to be able to
find the rule applicable to the case
concrete
we are also of course develop
the ability of students to formulate
good questions because the principle of
solution of a problem of all problem
non-legal is to make the
right questions when you are the ones
right questions about a problem already
you’re walking in the right direction
to be able to solve it but the model of
traditional teaching of law does not
allows students to ask questions
why because the student is for
listen to the teacher in the classroom
simply or to take note to take
Note literalness as the largest and
I exposed so we have to teach this
ability to question this ability
to ask questions
this ability to interrogate oneself by the
scope of legal problems more
important and we also need like
precondition for our students
they think like lawyers helping a
strategic definition process that
it has to do with making decisions
what do I mean I mean the fact of
that when one is on the axis
if I practice law all the
time has to be taking
decisions decisions on the framing
correct normative of a case why
the client arrives and raises it to his
way with your understanding in your own
terms
naturally that understanding may or may not
fit into the legal order one
You reclassify him to put
somehow we are also helping them
to make decisions about what cases are worth
the penalty that they are brought before a court and
what cases are not worth taking
before a court
we do not have that culture yet in mexico
of the negotiation of the use cases
of alternative means of solving
controversies and a lot orientation
most marked of the lawyers towards
solution of the problems not so much towards
the litigation that is this story so
perverse that they sold us to many of
us the race when we were told
colleagues what a lawyer does
true a lawyer with capital letters is
litigate a lawyer really that
is from very early in the
courts and does not abandon them until
does not exhaust the last of the resources
that is a great fallacy that is a great
lie
the lawyers do not have to be
oriented necessary unique exclusive ni
even preponderantly that litigation
we have to be oriented to be the
solution to the problems of
people
that is our task so we have to
go and in this we also have to
prepare our students for a
important decision-making process
in this context how should we teach
as it would be an ideal class to achieve
all this an ideal class from my point
of sight has to start from the
existence of a good school environment
I remember that some of the teachers
with which I had the enormous privilege
take classes in faculty in fact the
we were terrified they had us
scared and we were asking something that
had a little bit out of place or that
did not come much, they told us
all some fanned out gises or us
they said they ignore that we were clear that
we were ignorant that’s why we were
studying so that we will take away what
ignorant but that atmosphere of terror in
the classrooms I think it does not work
instead a friendly environment
a cordial environment an environment where
the students are calm they are
relaxed that they know respected
it is a fruitful environment
which works best for transmission
of knowledge
It is also important to start working
in the class with practical cases not the
concepts serve as a basis
nobody can be a good lawyer if not
has a minimum character base
conceptual from which I can
go forming but the concepts do not
exhaust the legal training that
we require
that’s why now in my own
teaching experience every time I’m more
classes with practical cases because the
practical cases help us from the
classrooms peek into the reality of
right they reveal us
highlight the circumstances of
specific cases require us to analyze
standards codes is not about the arrival of the
student and there will be a code there will be a law
have tried but it is also treated
that is a student analysis
circumstances facts issues
Facts that are very relevant
it is therefore also two more things
the use of new technologies does not
I understand how there are teachers still what
they tell their students they can not enter
to the living room with cell phone or tablet or with
a laptop and good and if they come in with
cellular do not take it out
what I say to my students is
bring a cell phone out because they are going to
draw because I am going to quote a thesis of
jurisprudence and I want what
find and I want them to open a group
of facebook and I want you to have a group
of whatsapp and while I’m teaching
and cited a thesis of the supreme court a
collegiate there is someone with a cell phone that
is dragging that thesis and still not
ended the explanation when he lifted the
hand and he says he’s already in the group of
facebook and that enriches the class of the
same way that enriches
watch videos on youtube for example or use
social networks twitter facebook
instagram any type of tool
technological than this and because we have it
to use in the classrooms because it is part of
of the lives of our students because
we all bring a phone
cell phone and many of the phones
cell phones are connected to the internet and
we can enrich
make the experience in the classroom we can
enrich the teaching experience if
we incorporate these new technologies not
they have no case to fight against them
what you have to do is know how
seize them go beyond the pores
normative texts in it have in
the in the use of new technologies
For example, teach class by asking
students also that to complement the
explanation go see a good
movie movie that can try on
legal subjects or who read a novel
for example in such a way that
complement the training of our
students and the last thing that I think is
important is that we ask the
students as I said not so much the
memorization but the ability to solve
problems which is very important that
we qualify not with exams
Traditional but we qualify to
starting precisely from practical cases
the tests ratings
should be determined, then, with
based on the analysis that the
students of practical cases as they can
seeing is a huge task is a challenge of
the most relevant but in this challenge
we play the present and the future of
legal education and the possibility
to continue forming lawyers and lawyers
that serve this country
thank you very much
[Applause]
”
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