Research Proposal

John Cotton

Professor Goeller

Research in Disciplines: College!

10/8/13

Research Proposal

Working Title: Law School: Flirting With Failure

Topic:

I will research and discus the many factors that are currently pushing many law schools to the brink of failure. Currently law schools are experiencing, for the first time in history, a sharp decline in the number of applicants. This drop off has come as the result of many factors. Of these factors the two most prominent are the ever-increasing cost of attendance and the ever-decreasing job market for new lawyers. Naturally this decline in students is hitting schools where they feel it most, their wallets. Many schools are facing a future of financial uncertainty due to the sharp decline in tuition-generated revenue. To further their issues, groups of recent graduates who have failed to obtain employment are now threatening class action lawsuits against their alma mater. With so much uncertainty about the future of legal higher education this topic generates a great amount of debate and discussion.

Research Question:

What has caused Law schools to suffer such a steep drop off in the number of students and what information about the potential job market did they withhold from applicants and enrolled students? Also could the demise of law schools across the country be a precursor to the failure of other non-legal higher education institutions?

Theoretical Frame:

           The University of Michigan Journal of Law Review contains three separate pieces discussing the “legal education crisis.” While providing different insights, each of these articles emphasize the severe implications that are already being felt amongst students, graduates and institutions. The Crisis in Legal Education: Dabbling in Disaster Planning is one of these three. Much like the other two this article points out that for students and graduates, the crisis is already here. They are on the forefront whereas the institutions are still on the brink of crisis. The three authors of this piece McEntee, Lynch and Tokaz argue that “the personal disasters faced by recent graduates may be precursors to and industry-wide institutional disaster for legal higher education” (the crisis in legal education 226).This theory is key in examining law schools because despite law students being the first to feel the pain, Law schools in turn may become of precursor of things to come for other branches of higher education. The idea that law schools are the “bleeding edge” of the higher education bubble is widely accepted and holds serious implications for higher education.

           Recently there has been a great controversy over the idea of law schools purposely misleading applicants about post-graduation employment. Those who argue this believe that schools, acting in their own interest, mislead applicants into believing that upon graduation, employment was almost guaranteed. However once many of these students graduated they learned that gaining employment as a young lawyer is far more difficult and limited than the impression given by schools.  Kari Anne Mattox believes that Law Schools should now be held to the same standards that for-profit universities have been held to since 2011. This standard requires that schools educate students on the real employment level of recent graduates. Even more so, if they are working in their field and for what type of employers. Through the use of government policy, law schools may be forced into greater transparency. If schools are more transparent then applicants will be more informed and may be able to avoid the pitfalls that have devastated many recent graduates. This would solve issues that are confronting institutions and students alike.

Research Plans:

I have utilized news articles, legal publications and other scholarly works in order to research and analyze my topic. Many of my sources come from those who have experienced the downward trend in legal education first hand. I also plan to bring a personal approach to my paper by conducting an interview with my brother who is a 2009 graduate of Seton Hall Law School and has experienced firsthand the current job market. By using sources close to the issues at hand I hope to achieve a meaningful and accurate understanding and subsequent analysis of my topic.