Logo

Bad News for Law Schools and Law Students from the 2010 NALP

Published: May 04, 2010

 Education       Grad School       

Great post by Vault’s senior law editor Vera Djordjevich about the 2010 NALP Conference, though she had some bad news for soon-to-be JDs. She writes:

Bad news: the recession’s impact on law students will be greatest at schools below the top 20.

Law schools face rising costs, rising demands and falling endowments, though they continue to have rising enrollment. Among the issues confronting career services:

  • Budget cuts
  • Pressure from frustrated students and “helicopter parents”
  • Pressure from internal administration
  • “Wrestling with the U.S. News monster”
  • Law firms question whether to keep recruiting on campus

Can the profession absorb all these law grads? (No)

  • Supply/demand rules don’t apply to schools
  • Some schools are changing (e.g., two-year JD programs), but this doesn’t seem to be terribly popular with law firms because it makes it difficult to compare students across schools.
  • Schools will nevertheless resist reducing enrollment and will find it harder to place students--especially schools below the top 20.

Read more on Vault’s Law Blog.

***