Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Langdell, Christopher Columbus

"Mr. Fox, will you state the facts in the case of Payne v. Cave?" That simple question marked the beginning of a revolution in LEGAL EDUCATION. In 1870, Professor Christopher Columbus Langdell, in the first contracts class he taught at Harvard Law School, put the question to a student and forever changed the way lawyers learned their craft. No longer would law students sit passively and take notes while their professor lectured or read out of a legal treatise. Langdell's students read the reports of actual court cases and were required to discuss them in class. Langdell is credited with introducing the case-study method of instruction into U.S. law schools. Although there is evidence that Langdell was not the first to use the CASE METHOD, as dean, he had the opportunity to shape the...