For more than a century, U.S. law schools have typically taught students using the Socratic method, which involves professors interrogating students and demonstrating how to analyze court cases, and they have typically graded students through make-or-break final exams. But law schools are evolving to respond to changes in the legal marketplace, experts say.

Many law schools, for instance, have eliminated high-stakes finals and replaced them with a series of exams, and most schools now offer students opportunities to learn through mentoring opportunities, where they do legal projects alongside experienced attorneys who provide guidance.

Both law professors and practicing attorneys say prospective law students should vet law schools based on the way they teach. Here are seven ways to evaluate a law school’s teaching methods.

1. Visit the law school, and see the teaching for yourself: If you are choosing among several law schools, observe classes at each school to determine which you like best.

“There are schools that emphasize teaching more than other schools,” says Andrew Strauss, dean of the University of Dayton School of Law.

He says some law schools prioritize research so much that they pay little regard to the classroom experience.

[Evaluate professors to find a law school with engaging classes.]

2. Make sure the Socratic method is used to its full potential: Scott Greenfield, a criminal defense attorney in New York City with 35 years of litigation experience, says the Socratic method can be difficult for students to understand at first. The technique, which is used in some form at nearly all U.S. law schools, requires professors to ask a series of rhetorical questions in order to make their point rather that directly stating their opinion.

Greenfield says it is sometimes used poorly, but that when the Socratic method is used well, it provides crucial lessons for law students on how to respond intelligently and quickly to tough questions. Greenfield says although most people squirm when they are questioned in Socratic law courses, students should welcome the challenge and seek law schools with talented practitioners of the Socratic method.

“What the Socratic method does is it forces you to think quickly and accurately to address the most difficult aspect of being a lawyer,” he says. “We work under pressure. We’re required to think well but quickly. An objection too late is worthless.”

Greenfield says when he defends clients, he relies on the toughness he cultivated through the Socratic method. “There’s no saying you’re sorry after they execute your client,” he says.

3. Investigate success rates: Alison Monahan, an alumna of the Law School at Columbia University and the founder of several legal advice blogs, says the best way to judge the effectiveness of a law school’s teaching approach is to look at its bar passage rates.

“If students are graduating and they can’t pass the bar, that’s a big problem,” she says.

Monahan says it also helps to ask current students and recent graduates about how engaged they were in class. “You really ought to talk to a couple of students, and if those students are totally disengaged, then that’s a red flag,” she says.

[Choose a law school that suits your learning style.]

4. Scan professors’ resumes: Adama Wiltshire, an associate with Littler Mendelsohn law firm and an alumna of the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, says prospective law students should seek law schools whose professors have legal experience outside academia.

“Their experience will inform the way they teach,” she says.

5. Consider your personal learning preferences: Monahan says a pressure-cooker environment is not ideal for every law student, and that some students do not perform well on high-stakes finals.

“One thing I would look for is opportunities to get feedback throughout the semester,” she says.

Monahan says law school clinics are generally exceptional learning experiences because they immerse students in the practice of law.

Paul Bateman, a professor at Southwestern Law School, says cramming does not work in law school, and students benefit from frequent feedback, which can serve as a wake-up call when they are off track. “Going to law school is more akin to studying a foreign language or using a musical instrument,” he says. “You have to practice everyday.”

[Seek a law school with hands-on learning opportunities.]

6. Favor schools that provide intensive training on how to read, write and speak like a lawyer: Strauss says communication skills are the foundation of the legal profession.

“Law is a social discipline,” he says. “You have to be able to communicate with other people orally and in writing and say precisely what you mean.”

Law schools that take rhetoric seriously offer an abundance of writing seminars, encourage participation in moot court competitions, require all students to regularly practice writing skills and do oral presentations, Strauss says.

Strauss says many big law firms complain about first-year associates who lack writing skills, and solid writing abilities make law school graduates more competitive in the job market than their less articulate peers. He says reading comprehension is also essential, and law students must learn how to parse convoluted legal language and interpret complex legal arguments.

7. Choose a school with various teaching approaches: “I think the Socratic method can be overdone,” says Orin Kerr, a professor with the Law School at George Washington University. “If you’ve got a law school where everyone defaults to the Socratic method, that’s not good. It shouldn’t be that everyone does that because it’s the thing to do.”

For instance, Kerr teaches his students how to advocate for clients by moderating pro-con debates, and many law professors have distinctive teaching styles. Kerr says the best way to judge the skill of a law professor is to witness his or her class.

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Choose a Law School Based on Teaching Style originally appeared on usnews.com