Special Features

William R. Rakes

Virginia is a leader in the education of lawyers.

As one of a handful of states with eight or more law schools, and a population of seven and a half million, Virginia probably has more legal educators per capita than any other state.

More importantly, the commonwealth is home to several of the nation’s oldest and most illustrious law schools.

Once the diploma goes on the wall, many lawyers may not give much thought to the process of legal education.

Roanoke lawyer Bill Rakes is different. Among the numerous leadership positions Rakes has held in local, state and national bar organizations, he has made time to think long and hard about legal education and to lead others in that endeavor.

In 1992, Rakes chaired a Virginia State Bar committee that convened a 1992 Legal Education Conclave in Virginia. His continued service on the state and national level culminated this past year in his 2006-2007 chairmanship of the  American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

This year, Rakes led that group in conducting three Conclaves in Legal Education, including a June 8 gathering at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

In remarks delivered to the April 28, 2007, Chicago conclave, Rakes detailed the contributions of practitioners, judges, academics and VSB staff through the VSB’s legal education section, to programming and publications devoted to improving legal education over the past 15 years.

He didn’t hesitate to ask the hard question: Has anything really changed?

Lawyers won’t be surprised at the lawyer-like answer: Yes and no. 

Rakes’ own daily experience with young lawyers in his firm and elsewhere affirms the fundamental soundness of the basic system of legal education in the U.S. , he said. And American legal educators field many requests from abroad for guidance and counseling on legal education in other countries.

But Rakes is troubled about stagnant bar passage rates, high debt loads for graduating J.D.s and a continued lack of diversity in the profession and a decline in public service.

“Law firms continue to do less, rather than more,” to mentor and educate young lawyers in a firm setting because of “economic pressures,” Rakes told the Chicago group.

The 100 practicing lawyers, judges and academics who gathered at the Charlottesville conclave on June 8 heard a panel discussion on curricular changes to support the increasing global nature of legal practice, according to a report in the June/July 2007 issue of iiiVirginia Lawyer.iii A second program described “pipeline projects” to encourage promising students from minority groups to consider the legal profession as early as middle school

Rakes’ participation in the Ted Dalton Inn of Court proves that he does not limit his efforts to nurturing aspiring lawyers. A founding member of the Roanoke-area chapter, he currently serves as its president. His colleague Monica Monday says that Rakes’ “leadership and vision for the Ted Dalton Inn of Court, which is now thriving,” have been crucial to its success.

Biography

Education: B.A., University of Virginia, 1960; LL.B., University of Virginia law school, 1963

Practice Areas: Commerical litigation, business, probate and estate professional liability

Achievement: Chair, Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, American Bar Association, 2006-2007

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