In difficult economic times, the market for lawyers tends to crashed. Well, it has crashed and it’s crashed for the four or five years at minimum. Are law schools adjusting to the changing demand by raising entrance requirements, cutting class sizes, and lowering tuition?

What do you think? Of course not. The law school business is immensely profitable. After all, they sell dreams of monetary success for the avaricious, justice for the inspired and job security for the frightened.

When times are good, law school graduates, tend to get some of those things. But times are not good and many of those dreams are going to be nothing more than a lifetime of debt and second rate jobs.

It is ethical for law schools, especially second tier, to keep on doing what they have been doing without the slightest deviation?
No.

Are they going to change?
No.

But this is a good discussion of the situation and I recommend you read it. I’m very impressed with the web site. The guy is honest to God idealist. Treasure him, there are not a lot left.

James Pilant

Law professor Brian Tamanaha (recently of St. John's University in New York; now at Washington University in St. Louis) challenged law professors at non-elite law schools in a blog post to consider the ethical implications of attracting thousands of students to pursue an expensive legal education at a time when the job market cannot provide them with meaningful employment.  Citing to angry, despairing posts on blogs by law students and recently g … Read More

via Minding the Workplace