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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Ind. Law - "Indiana Tech defends plan for law school"
Updating a long list of earlier ILB entries on Indiana Tech's plans to open a law school in For Wayne, here is a long, comprehensive story published in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette last week, reported by Devon Hayne. A few quotes:
“There’s no shortage of attorneys in Indiana,” said Indiana University law professor William Henderson, who writes about law school education. “We do have too many law school students.”In addition to worrying about job prospects, some critics are worried about the kind of debt Indiana Tech students will accumulate – and what effect that debt will have on their future.
Students without other financial resources, for example, would need to take out $85,500 in loans and likely more for living expenses.
[Indiana Tech President Arthur] Snyder acknowledges it’s unlikely that Indiana Tech students will go on to earn six-figure salaries. According to the school’s own feasibility study, most beginning lawyers in Indiana can expect to make between $35,000 and $65,000.
With that salary, paying off student loans can be a challenge. * * *
Aside from facing high debt burdens and a tough job market, graduates of Indiana Tech’s law school will have to grapple with the fact that their law school hasn’t yet had a chance to build a reputation.
Henderson, at Indiana University, said the school’s first few classes of graduates will have “an uphill battle.”
“They’re an unknown brand,” he said. “They have no alumni network to rely on. There’s a little suspicion they’re not as capable as someone from an established law school.”
Something new
Snyder and Robert Wagner, chairman of the board of trustees, said they are familiar with the arguments against opening new law schools. Nevertheless, they say their plan addresses most of the concerns.
The economy may look bleak today, they say, but that won’t last forever. And not every graduate will be clamoring for the kind of legal jobs that are in short supply today. Increasingly, Wagner notes, law school graduates are taking jobs in business and other fields where law degrees are considered an asset.
Moreover, Snyder and Wagner say they plan to create a law school that will give students opportunities they wouldn’t have elsewhere.
“We don’t need another law school,” Snyder said. “We need another kind of law school.”
The school, he said, will pair students with attorney mentors, place them in internships at local law firms, and draw on other local resources to ensure students are prepared to practice as attorneys immediately after graduation. * * *
Henderson thinks the team is heading in the right direction.
“I don’t think it’s fair to heap scorn on the people starting this thing at Indiana Tech,” he said. “It creates problems for the legal profession when you have too many law schools cranking out lawyers – that’s something we’re going to have to deal with. But there’s room for improvement in legal education … It is possible to create a really terrific law school that does a better job than others.”
Snyder acknowledged that many students could leave the school with heavy debt. As a result, he said, the school will make financial aid a priority and keep tuition low.
For comparison, in-state students at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law pay $27,040 in annual tuition – about $1,460 less than at Indiana Tech.
He also said the school has a responsibility to be candid with students about the kind of salaries they will earn.
“Honesty is the best policy,” he said. “Less than 1 percent (of law school graduates) get the big-firm jobs in Chicago and New York. We’ve got to be very straightforward.”
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 17, 2011 08:36 AM
Posted to Indiana Law