Creative Approaches: Faculty Spotlights

Robert G. Bone
Richard L. Godfrey Faculty Research Scholar
Professor of Law
BU School of Law

"I like to tell my students that learning the law is like learning to swim—one learns by doing, not just by listening to a lecture. Like learning to swim, learning the law involves some awkwardness and unpleasantness, and even some embarrassment—the legal equivalent of water up the nose, flopping around and the like. What I want students to understand is that I am there to help them through the process, and that I understand how difficult it can be. "

"I teach a large first-year Civil Procedure class that spans both fall and spring semesters (about 90-100 students each year) and a fairly large one-semester upper-level Intellectual Property class that usually has about 70 students. Law school classes use a mixture of lecture and Socratic-style discussion which, despite its reputation, is conducted in a relatively unintimidating way. With a large class conducted mainly by discussion, the key is to keep all the students actively engaged throughout the time period. To accomplish this, I bring a controlled looseness to the classroom and a high level of energy that communicates my own excitement for the material. I also try to teach the subject matter in a way that challenges the very best students without losing those who have not yet reached the same level of comprehension. This is especially important in the first year because students get the hang of legal argument and analysis at different rates. Some understand after two months; others don’t grasp what’s going on until the middle of the spring semester. "

"It is also essential that class discussion be channeled productively. The point is not simply to get students to voice their opinions; the point is to teach them how to analyze a legal issue rigorously by helping them do it themselves. To achieve that goal, I exercise a fair amount of control over the direction of discussion while still allowing students the latitude to explore different angles. In Civil Procedure, I identify three or four students at the beginning of each class who are on call for the class hour. This approach gives every student an incentive to prepare carefully since anyone might be on call on any given day. At the same time, all the students except those actually singled out can relax and pay attention to the material rather than worrying about being on call (which can be a source of some anxiety). Anyone is free to volunteer, however, and many do during a class hour. This is the benefit of Socratic discussion: done well, it’s a form of learning by doing. "

Robert Bone has been a member of the BU Law faculty since 1987. His areas of expertise include intellectual property, civil procedure and complex litigation, and he teaches in all three areas. He has published numerous articles in leading journals, a book entitled The Economics of Civil Procedure, and essays appearing in various collections. His civil procedure work focuses on complex litigation, rulemaking, procedural reform and procedure history and theory, while his intellectual property work focuses on trade secrets and trademark law.

Professor Bone was selected to give the 2000-2001 Boston University Lecture in honor of his scholarly achievements, and he received the Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1991. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Law and Economics Association.

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