Surely, by now, you've heard of the above-titled article by Mark Greenbaum. It was among one of the first mainstream media articles that addressed the oversupply of lawyers and asked that the ABA become accountable for its sins--namely, failing to regulate law schools. Well, there's been a response!
Here are portions of ABA President Carolyn Lamm's Letter to the Editor, in pertinent part--which I lifted from ATL. My comments are in grey:
To the Editor:
Here are portions of ABA President Carolyn Lamm's Letter to the Editor, in pertinent part--which I lifted from ATL. My comments are in grey:
To the Editor:
You published a recent opinion piece by Mark Greenbaum. His analysis is premised on incorrect facts from which he draws flawed conclusions. He misstates the number of American Bar Association-approved law schools, ties it to what he describes as a “flood of graduates,” and insists the ABA should “block” new schools. He fails to acknowledge that in fact existing law schools have reduced voluntarily class size and therefore despite a minimal increase in the number of accredited law schools (7% over a 5 year period) first year enrollment grew by only two percent. Hardly producing a “flood of graduates”.
First of all, the flood started in the late 90s--not since the Great Recession. I have yet to hear about a law school that is voluntarily reducing its class size. I would venture to say that is a fib. However, I have heard that applications are up 20% and that New York Law School, for example, is expecting 50% more first years this coming school year. That is an additional 250 attorneys when New York City cannot support the tens of thousands of attorneys it currently houses.
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