Law School Crisis Calls for Law School Model Restructuring ?
Last week, the Association of American Law Schools held its annual meeting and “skyrocketing cost of tuition, ever-higher graduate debts and a growing feeling that legal scholarship is of little use to the bench or practitioner” quickly became the hottest topic of discussion.
Cabranes, like others before him, noted that law schools are in “something of a crisis,” given the skyrocketing cost of tuition, ever-higher graduate debts and a growing feeling that legal scholarship is of little use to the bench or practitioners. These themes emerged as the hottest topic of discussion during the four-day conference, which drew about 3,000 legal educators.
“For years, [the rising cost of tuition and growing debt loads] have raised eyebrows. Now, they raise blood pressure,” Cabranes said on Jan. 6. “These developments literally threaten the enterprise of legal education.”
U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jose Cabranes offered a three-part approach for alleviating these issues plaguing law schools.
To get back on track, law schools should shift their curricula back to core courses and away from the interdisciplinary classes that have grown in popularity, he said; they should introduce a two-year core law program followed by a yearlong apprenticeship, and increase transparency regarding costs, job prospects and financial aid information.
As a recent law graduate and the bearer of two law school loans, I have to say that I agree with Judge Cabranes’ suggestions. More emphasis needs to be on honing real lawyering skills so that law students have a real chance at landing jobs (and at being effective advocates) and having a third-year, full-time apprenticeship program does just that.
Judge Cabranes also talked about a growing “cult of globalization” … You can read more about that the National Law Journal.
What do you think about this?