The University of Balitmore has announced that it will be boosting the law school budget by an extra one million dollars per year for the next five years. This is good news for any law school, but might not be blogworthy except for the fact that Dean Phil Closius was eased out of his job last spring after complaining about the percentage of law school tuition revenue captured by the University. (The University told a slightly different story.) In any case, UB now needs to find a new permanent dean - and stay in the good graces of the ABA - so this maneuver makes sense. And my guess is that this infusion is only the beginning. Any strong decanal candidate is going to be asking for significant financial commitments for the law school going forward.
UB is a very good law school. The university will have to decide whether it would prefer the law school to serve the broader institution as a a reputation leader or a cash cow. It can't have both. And that decision will have significant implications for the sort of dean the school is able to attract.
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