Robert Steinbuch (Arkansas-Little Rock) reviews the new book by Brian Tamanaha (Washington U.), Failing Law Schools (University of Chicago Press, 2012) in the National Law Journal:
Tamanaha does not seek to indict law schools. He seeks to reform them — a goal that he has pursued for many years. As a law professor, I find many of his arguments persuasive. …
Tamanaha offers several reform suggestions, such as allowing schools to have two-year J.D. programs, stripping the ABA of its inappropriate and harmful monopoly over law school accreditation and limiting the maximum federal aid available to law schools — as well as tightening the requirements therefor. Tamanaha speaks truth to law school institutional power and has done so throughout his career.
He names names and identifies schools in a noble effort to tell the story of how legal education arrived at its current position. Failing Law Schools is a must-read for all legal academics, prospective law students and anyone else interested in law schools.
Other reviews of Failing Law Schools:
- Jim Chen (Dean, Louisville)
- Chronicle of Higher Education
- Stanley Fish (Florida International)
- Scott Greenwald (here and here)
- Bill Henderson (Indiana)
- Paul Horwitz (Alabama)
- Orin Kerr (George Washington)
- Brian Leiter (Chicago)
- National Law Journal
- Washington Post
