Last spring some members of the Progressive Alliance, a reform-minded student group, said they wanted to talk to this year's first year students before they could be "brainwashed by the faculty."

This fall, though, the group--now called the Alliance for Better Legal Education (ABLE)--waited until last night to make their pitch.

"We realized that we could not present the problems to them theoretically." ABLE member Stephanie L. Pollack said recently "They have to live through it themselves."

An audience of approximately 200, including several professors and the dean, listened to speeches by Professor of Law Gerald E. Frug and Assistant Professor of Law Clare Dalton

The crowd then discussed a variety of issues, including the placement process, the workload, and student reform movements themselves.

One faculty member at the meeting praised ABLE for organizing the lecture series and the small discussion groups that will meet throughout the year But in an apparent reference to last year's student protests, Charles Fried. Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, warned. "Do not trade one group of bosses for another."