Monday 10 December 2012

Legal Education in hard times

Tax Prof Blog has an interesting post called "Stealth Restructuring in Legal Education". The author points out the parallels between recent downsizing in law firms and what is happening now in law school admissions and enrollment. He also points out that the "decline of roughly 8000 in first-year enrollment (across the country, as reported by the ABA) means law schools probably are missing roughly $200 million in first-year revenue for the 2012-2013 academic year as compared to the 2010-2011 academic year. He goes on to look more closely at which law schools lost most enrollment and how they are restructuring; and says that this isn't being reported - hence the title of "Stealth Restructuring". The post says that "almost no one is reporting on what is actually happening at the dozens of law schools trying to deal with significant budgetary distress. In the coming months or in the next year or two, law schools will be leaner – with fewer staff and possibly fewer faculty (if early retirement options are put on the table or if untenured faculty are released). And quite possibly, some law schools may close. While a law school being forced to close likely will be news, it appears that law school restructuring generally is less newsworthy than law firm restructuring."

No comments: