its completion. There are at least three of these examinations, during each of the three terms of the school year in each course; and the writing of each examination involves from one and a half to three hours. The aim is to ask questions which shall call for the exercise of judgment and the reasoning powers in their answer, and not merely the power of memory. With even the best students the fact that they are to be subjected to such a test of the thoroughness of their work serves as a legitimate stimulus, while the nature of the examination is so varied as to avoid, so far as possible, the temptation to cram.
In the matter of giving marks upon examinations, the practice of the school has varied. At present the plan is to mark each examination and require seventy-five per cent for passing. These marks are given out at once, so that those who stand low may be stimulated to better work or induced to take fewer studies. It is required that a candidate for graduation shall have an average of not less than eighty per cent on all his examinations, but beyond this there is no ranking or honor on account of marks, and the per cents are not made public except as they are given out to each student after the examination. The object is to use marks only for the purpose of weeding out those who manifestly should not go on or should not graduate, and not to make them a stimulus to cramming or "digging." Very high marks are no certain indication of legal ability or available knowledge.
Final examinations for graduation are held by a committee of lawyers appointed by the Supreme Court of the State. They are both oral and written, and the candidate who successfully passes them is given the degree of Bachelor of Law, and admitted to the bar of the State and Federal Courts.
Moot Courts are becoming an important factor in the instruction in law schools. In professional schools of every kind some method of giving practical exercise in the application of knowledge is found necessary to the best results. There is field work in engineering courses, and there are clinics in medicine. For the Law Schools the Moot Court furnishes the field work and the clinics. Some schools make a point of allowing their students to attend actual trials in court, but it is evident that this can be of little practical value. The student is a mere looker on; he does not participate in the case nor prepare himself for it. The investigation of the law and drafting of the pleadings are critical features of which he knows nothing. He is apt to overlook what is vital, and be particularly struck by the smartness of lawyers who delight in display rather than by the more effective skill of those who seek only results. Actual practice by a student in well-conducted Moot Courts under the direction of a competent instructor will furnish him better training for actual practice than he can get by attendance upon courts, and indeed better training than he is likely to get in a law office.
The usual method of assigning a statement of facts to students as attorneys who prepare the case and try it to the court on the issues of law or fact which may arise, the statement of facts being regarded as the evidence in the case if the issue is one of fact, furnishes excellent exercise in studying the points of law involved in preparing the pleadings, making briefs of authorities, and arguing law questions. Lately, however, a plan has been adopted in this school which gives the Moot Court a broader scope. During the latter part of the junior course, after the class has had instruction in Evidence, the attorneys are required to prove by competent evidence the facts set out briefly in the statement. This gives an opportunity for applying the rules of evidence which would arise in an actual trial. The witnesses are instructed beforehand by the attorneys, and testify as to the imaginary transaction so as to prove what is desired, while it is open to the opposing attorney to object to the evidence if improper. The
