Harvard and New York Law School host their third two-day conference beginning today on Future Ed: New Business Models for U.S. and Global Legal Education (program; speakers):

Got an idea about the future of U.S. legal education? Think it’s time to go clinical? Or global? Or virtual? Should law be combined with other fields of study at the graduate or undergraduate level?

There is no shortage of commentary about the challenges facing American law schools. Driven by the Carnegie Foundation’s highly critical 2007 report and the dramatic downturn in large firm associate hiring, law school deans and administrators are scrambling to predict the future and position themselves within a rapidly changing market. But what is the likely shape of the future market—or markets—for legal education? What are the most promising models for delivering education and training in those markets? And how do we get there from here?

Future Ed is a year-long contest of ideas for innovation in legal education, focusing on ways to improve quality while reducing cost. Cosponsored by Harvard Law School and New York Law School, the project has brought together educators, lawyers, clients, regulators, and legal entrepreneurs to design and test potential innovations in the law school curriculum, teaching methods, and the use of technology. Thirty proposals were presented at Harvard Law School in October, 2010 and the best will be refined and presented at New York Law School on April 15 and 16