Journal of Law and Criminal Justice

Learning the Law: Self-Directed Learning and Successful Trial Lawyers
Grant J. Shostak, Vanessa van der Graaf

Abstract
Upon passing a bar examination, a lawyer may practice in any area of the law, even in areas they have never practiced. Professional rules governing lawyers provide that a lawyer may become competent in an area of law through self-study. Are lawyers highly self-directed in their learning such that they can effectively teach themselves what they need to know? This study investigated the level of self-directedness toward the learning of successful lawyers in Missouri. Using a modified version of Williamson’s (2007) Self-Rating Scale of Self-Directed Learning (SRSSDL), surveys were mailed to 140 recipients of the Missouri Bar Foundation’s Lon Hocker Award for Trial Excellence along with a postage prepaid return envelope. Forty-five surveys were returned, properly completed, and were used in this study. This study used a nonexperimental, cross-sectional design. The research employed quantitative data collected through a survey. The study used inferential statistics to discover the general position of the participant’s level of self-directedness toward learning. This study found that most of the lawyers studied (64.4%) were highly self-directed in their learning, while a minority of them (35.6%) were moderately self-directed. This study supports the proposition that lawyers may adequately teach themselves new areas of the law.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jlcj.v11n2a1