The Broad Institutional Impact Of The Law School Crisis

Brian Leiter briefly noted this news story claiming that Catholic University is considering instituting a 20% university-wide cut in operational expenditures as a result of declining law school revenue.  It appears that this cut will not affect permanent faculty lines - but may impact things like adjunct faculty hiring.  This isn't an isolated situation, I suspect.  I have heard of at least one other school that cancelled a faculty hire in another department due to the law school situation.  And although nothing is public right now, we know that law schools themselves are starting to make some hard decisions.

Bill Henderson has previously said that he expects big layoffs at law schools this fall - presumably thinking that there will be a huge overall revenue shortfall, but that schools won't know, until opening day, just how bad their own situations look.  We will soon be able to test Bill's crystal ball.  But the Catholic University story should wake up a much wider swath of academics to the impact of the current law school crisis.  At universities highly dependent on law school revenue - apparently, Catholic U is among those schools - the crisis will eat directly into the budgets of other programs.  But where law schools are break-even propositions - the many law schools where overhead  covers just that - the reality that law schools actually need institutional subsidies (just like almost every other college in a larger school) may mean that the universities may more critically question the need for a law school...and may empower the university to impose its will and priorities on law schools that were previously very independent.

There are big implications to this crisis.  The simple (but serious) story is about cutbacks, layoffs and possibly closings.  The more complex story we may soon learn involves the question of whether, notwithstanding the ABA,  law schools that have claimed exceptional status within their institutions will become unexceptional colleges in the larger university constellation.  Special snowflakes no more, as it were.

Comments

[harold]

Good.

[anon]

The hiring practices of law schools of late have deteriorated to the point of being ludicrous. Accordingly, the value of a law school education has been steadily diminished.
It is foolish to attribute the present enrollment crisis solely to the overall economy. This nation has gone thru many, many recessions since the Great Depression (and we are not currently in a recession, technically) but never since then has the value of a law school education been more questioned.
While all the hand wringing goes on about the enrollment crisis, little attention is paid to the causes. It is simply assumed that the financial collapse of 2008 (and its aftermath) caused an implosion of employment opportunities, and that that has caused a decrease in law school enrollments.
But, the employment trends were in place before 2008. Many were discussing this issue long before 2008.
What is most ironic? The alarm is now ringing so that no one can help but notice, but certain stubborn ideologues in academia refuse to wake up. Now, reality is knocking on the door, and will be refused entry no longer.

[fred blancmange]

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

--Einstein

[Tate]

I agree that the recession isn't the sole cause of the employment crisis for Lawyers. But I hope as the economy recovers trends will show more lawyers being hired.

[anon]

"Nothing is real."
John Lennon

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

These are helpful observations, aren't they?
Particularly when someone or something is sick and in need of treatment.