The last and perhaps most far-reaching steps in the history of the Law School were taken in 1912, when one year in the Literary College was required, and in 1915, when another year was added, making the law course one of five years. Other significant advances have also been made of late years; the establishment of the special degree of J.D. (Juris Doctor) for exceptional students, and particularly the addition of an optional sixth year of special studies for those who wished to carry their work further, leading to the degree of Master of Laws.
With these changes in the requirements has come also a revolution in methods of teaching and even in the fundamental policies of the School. There are three methods ordinarily applied in teaching law; the lecture, the textbook, and the study of selected cases. The early courses were almost entirely lectures, textbooks not appearing until 1879, while the study of cases, used somewhat even at the very first, has now become the principal method of establishing legal principles. The question is largely one of the aim of a school, whether to make the student familiar with the actual rules and practice in the different parts of the country so that he will be able to take up his profession, if only in a limited way, at once; or whether to emphasize fundamental principles and the evolutionary character of the law, which can best be discovered from the study of decisions and cases, in order to prepare for the far more significant and useful career open to one who has the background, as well as the ordinary rules of law, upon which to base his actions. President Hutchins, when Dean of the Law School, emphasized this when he said: "The Law School of today should teach and should encourage the study of law in its larger sense." This policy has been consistently developed by the present Dean, Henry M. Bates, '90, who not only insists on the higher mission of the Law School in this regard but also believes it "must not only train men to be effective lawyers adhering steadfastly to high ethical standards, but it must also instil into them a strong sense of responsibility to the community, and those ideals of service which are among the oldest and finest but, perhaps, sometimes forgotten traditions of the bar."