The Need for Prompt Action to Revise American Law Schools

American law students are in a crisis. The ghost fishing crisis was cured when the law required that the lobster trap’s door eventually open, thanks to biodegradable metal hinges or gates. Unfortunately, there is no such relief for the glut of law students. The ABA Journal reports that 85% of graduates from accredited law schools in 2010 were burdened with debts averaging $98,500, but they are graduating into a weak economy where their prospects for employment have narrowed greatly.

Students in previous classes have far from been absorbed into the legal industry and classes behind them promise a continuing flow of competitors....What follows is an attempt to lay out the problem and propose some serious changes promptly in order to make law school more humane and economically efficient before the opportunity for taking advantage of faculty attrition for restructuring the law school system has faded.