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Response: problems with collaboration in law school

A practicing lawyer has responded to the student essay about collaboration:

My worst experiences in law school and in college involved group projects. There is always someone who does not pull their weight. Or worse, someone who drops a class rather than pull their weight for the group. The grading schemes never seemed to account for this. I remember a classmate who was supposed to present for 15 minutes of a 60-minute presentation. She finished in 5.

In the real world, by contrast, people pull their weight (more often) because failure to do so means firing or demotion. I admit, though, that most lawyers I know prefer solo projects to group projects.

Is there some way to simulate the "group product" experience without penalizing those who have poor luck (or choice) as to their group?

Full post as published by Legalwriting.net on July 22, 2008 (boomark / email).