Sunday, February 6, 2011

No new law schools for now, please

It is my belief that the last thing we need are more law schools in Texas.

It doesn't matter where they are in the state, we already have more lawyers than there are reasonable work for them.

Here's a quote from the article:

“On the average, (Texas) licenses about 2,000 new lawyers every year, and all of our economic indicators at this point indicate the market is not absorbing all of those people,” said Charles CantĂș, dean of St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.

Not only does it mean these folks are graduating with relatively useless degrees but they have piled on enormous amounts of debts for these degrees.

I would also venture to say, although its only anecdotal, that it exerts enormous pressure on these folks to make money to pay off these debts but leads to shoddy work and temptations to cut corners and even "rip-off" folks.

Our budget apparently also can't take funding new law schools and I think the funds can be better used for other purposes.


Lean times, yet 2 new law schools pitched

Skeptics argue nation's supply of lawyers already outstrips demand.
By Melissa Ludwig - Express-News


Amid a state budget crisis so severe there's talk of shutting down four community colleges, some lawmakers are still making the case for building a new public law school in Dallas, and possibly another in the Rio Grande Valley.

While experts predict mass layoffs at public schools, the Texas House has quietly set aside $2 million over the next two years to feed an upstart law school in Dallas attached to the University of North Texas. And two South Texas lawmakers have filed bills to establish an additional law school in the Valley.

“We recognize we are in tough economic times. ... But we will do as much as we can,” said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who championed creation of the UNT law school in the last legislative session.

The rest of the story: