Scholarship@WashULaw

Document Type

Article

Language

English (en)

Publication Date

2014

Publication Title

Akron Law Review

Abstract

Publicity about law schools for the past several years has been consistently bad. In news article after news article, the unifying theme has been that that there are too many lawyers, too many law schools, and that going to law school for a legal career is either a costly, risky proposition or simply a bad idea.' Of course, these laments about the legal education and the legal profession stem from the decline in the employment for lawyers in the United States since the financial crisis of 2008. While some see this simply as a mismatch in supply and demand - too many law schools graduating too many new lawyers for a weak demand - I believe it is that and much more. It is also a mismatch between what legal employers, law students, and clients need from law schools and what too many legal educators want to give. In this essay, I explore this phenomenon, and how law schools need to prepare students better for the practice of law and engage with the legal profession to meet society's legal needs.

Keywords

Legal Education, Economy, Legal Profession

Publication Citation

Peter A. Joy, Law Schools and the Legal Profession: A Way Forward, 47 Akron L. Rev. 177 (2014)

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