News

Reforming law school: Start with the end in mind

As I mentioned last month, I am exploring some changes to law school curriculum that would benefit clients and attorneys alike while improving access to justice. Thank you to Gina Alexandris, senior director of the law practice program at Ryerson University; and Cat Moon, director of innovation design for the Program in Law and Innovation at Vanderbilt University Law School, for speaking with me about this important issue.

THE BUSINESS OF LEGAL

In 2018, there are approximately 1.34 million lawyers in the U.S. according to ABA statistics and approximately 32,000 law students will graduate this year. Approximately 3 percent of lawyers were in the judiciary as of 2005 per this ABA report. More importantly, about half of the 75 percent of lawyers in private practice are solos, meaning more than 650,000 attorneys are running their own firms. And after deducting those solo firms, the other attorneys practice in one of the approximate 48,000 firms in the U.S.; 89 percent of lawyers work in firms under 10 attorneys; and 76 percent have two to five lawyers. Therefore, it’s more important for lawyers to understand how to run a business rather than sit on the bench. A few law schools are creating classes on business, like Suffolk University Law School’s program. However, that is a separate certificate from the J.D. program, rather than a mandatory class...

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