You Know Law Schools Are in Trouble When…

…they defend the value of a legal education by saying, as the Dean of Thomas Jefferson School of Law told the Wall Street Journal earlier this week

“The law degree is something that allows you to move in so many directions.”

Sure, there may be multiple uses for a law degree but, particularly when the public is increasingly demanding more accountability and when there is a growing sense that, as the New York Times put it, “[l]egal diplomas are apparently losing luster” (as evidenced by falling law school applications or decreases in the number of people taking the LSAT). It may have worked in the past to get more people into law school by sticking to vague, rosy rhetoric but it sure doesn’t seem to be a winning slogan going forward. And those who may be risking the most may be those schools which are so disconnected from economic realities that when no one wants to buy their services, they will be stuck trying to figure it all out even if the answer is right in front of them. After all, a JD from Harvard Law may always be good for many things but that by no means implies that a JD from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law always will as well.