Reading about the possibility that a third law school may open in Utah reminded me that I have had multiple conversations over the last three years or so with law faculty and deans in different states (not Utah, and not all in the same state) that share a theme. I paraphrase: “We’re overbuilt. Relative to student quality, market demand, and the sheer cost of running a law school (few of which have revenue from operations that covers their costs), our jurisdiction / region has at least one law school too many. What’s more, deans know it, and the bar knows it. But few law schools are likely to step aside voluntarily, by combining or by closing outright. The U.S. system of legal education is much more fragile, institutionally speaking, than is generally acknowledged, even within the halls of higher education.”
Notably, none of those conversations was situated in the southeastern U.S., where …
The new Jacksonville University College of Law is now up and running [this follows the closure of Florida Coastal; see TaxProf coverage],
High Point University now has a law school [TaxProf coverage], and
Elon University is expanding its law program with a presence in Charlotte [this follows the closure of Charlotte School of Law.
