Blunt Talk from a Reader to the Law Professoriate
Brian Tamanaha
Numerous readers responded to my op-ed in the NYTimes last week on the broken economics of legal education, but none more on point than a hand-written letter I received that bears reprinting in full:
Dear Professor Tamanaha,
Why are you asking "How did we get into this mess?" at
this late date? Where have you
been and what steps have you taken to
avoid our collision with the iceberg you describe in The New York Times of June 1st? To what end does "professorial" status point? You professors, you lawyers, you faculty members
control the legal industry and its ancillaries. If something has gone tragically wrong in the law school business, how did we
lay readers come to be on the hook with the
professional malefactors?
Smile when you say "we."
You seem, to all appearances, genuinely appalled at the mudslide engulfing us. But the heart of the matter is this: You all were
prepared to
risk a debacle from Day One. The law schools were perfectly
happy to rake in more revenue. The professoriate was
happy to receive
its cut of the breath-taking increase in revenue. The student customers were
happy at the prospect of collecting the noble credential even though they had to out-Scarlett Scarlett. Who
cared if the same evil spirit that stalked the McMansion business filtered into admissions offices?
The measures you sketch in advising remedial action smack of RMS "Titanic" deck-chair rearrangement.
Got excess capacity from now to 2050? Start choosing straws
now to see which law degree factories are
going to shut down for good. Tell your gatekeepers to start telling the mob that the jig is up. Make the end quick, cruel, painful and permanent. If it hurts badly it must be a splendid remedy.
Let me add my own very "street-urchin" take on a solution to accompany my harsh words. Let the pre-law take two years and the legal training take two years. There is no reason at
today's prices to pay for seven years when four will do
very nicely. Let "specialization" commence with the first job out of school. It's like recovering from alcoholism. Stop your whining and bleating and excusing.
Admit you're not sober.
XXXXXXX
Posted
4:35 PM
by Brian Tamanaha [link]