Outsiders Criticize Law Schools, But Will Change Ever Come? « Above the Law: A Legal Web Site – News, Commentary, and Opinions on Law Firms, Lawyers, Law School, Law Suits, Judges and Courts

Outsiders Criticize Law Schools, But Will Change Ever Come? « Above the Law: A Legal Web Site – News, Commentary, and Opinions on Law Firms, Lawyers, Law School, Law Suits, Judges and Courts

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[W]hen Judge Cabranes complained that law professors were spending too much time on esoteric research at the expense of core courses, as well as poking their noses into disciplines where they didn’t belong, his words stung…
After questioning the value of much of the third year of law school, he offered some suggestions. Law schools could offer two years of basic law courses followed by an apprenticeship in the third year. Law firms could hire students at much lower salaries than they currently pay junior associates, and bill them out for lower rates that clients would welcome.
He acknowledged that such a model “may make sense for students, law firms, and clients, although not necessarily for the profits of law schools.”

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In his parting words, Matasar urged legal educators to think about five new approaches:
• Diversifying to find money sources and build services beyond the traditional juris doctor program.
• Stratifying the marketplace to allow schools serve different functions and fill different niches.
• Collaborating across schools to stretch resources by, for example, sharing faculty members.
• Enrolling students who lack B.A. degrees, as legal educators in other countries do.
• Employing new approaches, such as games and computer applications, that help students learn the law.

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