The Proliferation of Case Method Teaching in American Law Schools: Mr. Langdell's Emblematic 'Abomination,' 1890-1915

Case method teaching was first introduced into American higher education in 1870 by Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906) of Harvard Law School (HLS), where it became closely associated with a complex of academic meritocratic reforms. "Mr. Langdell's method" became, in fact, emblematic, "creating and embodying cultural values and messages" of the HLS reforms. Generally dismissed as an "abomination," case method and the associated reforms were largely confined to Harvard for the next two decades. The ensuing determinative period between 1890 and 1915 then resolved the question as to whether case method teaching--and the concomitant, academic meritocratic reforms--would predominate in legal education and, ultimately, professional education in the United States. This essay analyzes the early proliferation of case method within legal education and attempts to identify and explain the means, the factions, and the reasons associated with the first step in the massive pedagogical shift toward case teaching that occurred in 20th century higher education. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 177 footnotes.)