Score one for Southern New England School of Law and the rah-rah squad at UMass - Dartmouth. As we've talked about previously, SNESL trying to merge with UMass Dartmouth. Put perhaps more precisely, SNESL is trying to stay afloat (and presumably save existing jobs). And the leadership of UMass - Dartmouth is trying to outfox the flagship campus and create the state's sole public law school. Meanwhile, likely competitors of such an enterprise (read: Suffolk and New England Law Schools) are making the case against the merger. Elie Mystal talks about the issue here.
Today we learn that battle has been taken to Governor Deval Patrick. He has responded with a sort-of thumbs up:
"Every new program that the university has taken on has thrived, so I'm very interested and curious and excited to see what the outcome of the analysis will be, and if the analysis supports the fiscal wisdom of it, then I look forward to supporting the move."
I continue to wonder about the strategic wisdom of the move. Other than a leg-up on administrative operations, what does the state gain by taking on the existing SNESL operation? The skeptic in me believes that the UMass Dartmouth folks know that this is the only way on earth that they'll ever score a law school. But if Massachusetts really wants a state law school, it could produce a phenomenal institution from the ground up in Amherst, Boston... or Dartmouth. I'd be happy to suggest a good model for a start-up!
Image: UMass Dartmouth Library.
That's a stunning building. We need to start posting more pictures of law schools here.
Posted by: Alfred | November 17, 2009 at 01:30 PM
But that's not the law school, Al. It's a library.
Posted by: Eric Muller | November 17, 2009 at 03:06 PM
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~review/vol61n4/Dennis_v61n4.pdf
for another shameless take on starting a new law school..fwiw taking over an existing law school historically does not seem to be a way to short circuit the needed effort to build an excellent program..indeed solving the legacy problems of an existing institution often slows the process
Posted by: Roger Dennis | November 19, 2009 at 08:48 AM