Legal Commentary

I can?t resist flagging How many law schools do we need?, from the The Buffalo News. The article charts reaction to the State of New York?s decision to set aside $50 million to support three new law schools (to be affiliated with St. John Fisher College, SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Binghamton) and picks up on many of the themes in September?s Wall Street Journal article lamenting the plight of un- or under-employed, debt-ridden law school graduates.

Most notably, the article includes some remarkably frank quotes from the local legal community (some of whom have ties to the University of Buffalo Law School, which could face competition for funds and/or students from the proposed state schools):

* ?There is no room, or reason, to create struggling law schools, which will produce mediocre attorneys.? Makau W. Mutua, dean, University of Buffalo Law School.

* ?We don?t need more law schools. . . . We may need better-trained lawyers, and brand new law schools aren?t going to provide better-trained lawyers.? Cheryl Smith Fisher, outgoing president, Bar Association of Erie County.

* ?Creating just another law school that was not a well-regarded one, or not an upper-tier law school, would not necessarily benefit this community, and might well dilute the quality of the profession.? Thomas G. Smith, president, Monroe County Bar Association.

These comments seem to go beyond a now-familiar critique -- that increasing numbers of law school graduates and a tightening economy make it difficult for graduates of lower tier schools, many with astronomical debt, to find good work -- by further suggesting that lower tier schools can be expected to produce subpar attorneys. I pass no judgment on this proposition but note that, if accepted, it somewhat changes the debate. If the only issue is that law schools are producing too many able attorneys for the market to absorb (or absorb at salaries commensurate with law school debt), then making sure that applicants are provided with a realistic assessment of their employment prospects would (as suggested by the WSJ) seem to be a reasonable response. However, if an underlying issue is that law schools that produce unqualified graduates are proliferating, then stiffening accreditation and/or bar standards might also be necessary to address the problem.