Background
MacCrate, Robert was born on July 18, 1921 in Brooklyn. Son of John and Flora (MacNicholl) MacC.
MacCrate, Robert was born on July 18, 1921 in Brooklyn. Son of John and Flora (MacNicholl) MacC.
Bachelor, Haverford College, 1943. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Haverford College, 1987. Bachelor of Laws, Harvard University, 1948.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), Union University, 1986. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Dickinson School Law, 1987. Doctor of Laws (honorary), William Mitchell College Law, 1994.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), Quinnipiac College Law, 1995. Doctor of Laws (honorary), City University of New York, 2002. Doctor of Laws (honorary), University South Carolina, 2003.
In the late 1980s MacCrate served as president of both the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association ("American Bar Association"). MacCrate later chaired the American Bar Association Task Force on Law Schools and the Profession. The Task Force"s Report, widely known as the MacCrate Report, was issued in July 1992.
Robert MacCrate"s father, John MacCrate, served in the United States. House of Representatives before serving as a justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New New York
With the backing of the American Bar Association Task Force on Law Schools and the Profession, the MacCrate Report criticized the state of American legal education and called for a practice-oriented, rather than theory-oriented, approach to legal education. Specifically, the MacCrate Report suggested mandatory externships with government agencies, judges, and pro bono legal assistance clinics.
lieutenant also encouraged state Bar associations to alter Bar examinations to focus more on practice-oriented skills rather than rhetoric and legal maxims, "to ensure that applicants are ready to assume their responsibilities in practice." While the MacCrate Report is widely viewed as the template for modern legal education in the United States, many traditional and high-ranking law schools have yet to adopt many of its recommendations. Because of this resistance to practice-oriented legal education, many have called into question the existing law school ranking system, generated entirely by United States. News and World Reports, and criticized it as being outdated and reflecting American upper class paradigms rather than an ability to produce competent attorneys.
This resistance has only added to the continually increasing criticism and mistrust of the law school ranking system.
Board managers Haverford College, 1971-1985, emeritus since 1986. Lieutenant United States Naval Reserve, 1943-1946. Fellow American Bar Foundation (chairman New York state 1973-1980, board directors since 1989, secretary 1992-1994, vice president 1994-1996, president 1996-1998).
Member American Bar Association (president 1987-1988, delegate 1972-1978, 89—, New York State delegate 1979-1981, board governors 1981-1984, 86-89, chair task force law schools and the profession 1989-1992, chair special advisory committee international activities 1988-1989, 2d circuit member standing committee on federal judiciary 1984-1986, member commission on opportunities in profession 1993-1996, member council section individual rights and responsibilities 1997-2000, medal 2002), New York State Bar Association (president 1972-1973, delegate since 1972, chair committee law governing firm structure and operation 1999-2002, medal 1999), Association Bar City of New York (vice president 1969-1971, chairman executive committee 1968-1969, chairman library committee 1977-1980, chairman 2d century committee 1989-1992), Bar Association Nassau County, District of Columbia Bar Association, New York County Lawyers Association (Distinguished Service award 1991), National Bar Association, American College Trial Lawyers, American Society International Law (executive council 1975-1980), Union Internationale des Avocats, Academy Political Science (board directors 1975-1994), American Judicature Society (president 1979-1981, board directors and member executive committee 1974-1983, Justice award 1989), Practising Law Institute (trustee and member executive committee 1972-1995, emeritus trustee since 1995, Seligson award 1995), American Law Institute (council 1975-2007, emeritus member council since 2007, ALI-American Bar Association committee on continuing professional education 1994-1997, chair subcommittee on future 1994-1997), New York Bar Foundation (president 1976-1991, Lifetime Achievement award, 2008), Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Constance Trapp, May 4, 1946. Children: Christopher Robert, Barbara Constance MacCrate Gatti, Thomas John.