Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Tamanaha

J.D. Course 1122 | 1 credit hours

Urgent questions are being raised about the rising cost of legal education and its implications for law graduates, for society, and for the financial health of law schools. The average debt of law graduates today is above $100,000 (not counting undergraduate debt). The job market for lawyers is mired in a deep recession. Over one third of graduates in 2010 did not obtain jobs as lawyers; the median starting salary of the class was $63,000. The problematic economics of legal education is captured by this fundamental mismatch: a graduate who earns the median salary ($63,000) cannot afford to make the standard monthly loan payments on the average debt ($100,000). We will explore how law schools arrived at this situation and what, if anything, can be done to help solve it going forward. The primary text for the class will be my book, Failing Law Schools. The course requires regular participation in class discussion and the final will be a take home.

Laptop use is not permitted.

Note: WEEK ONE COURSE. This seminar will meet for one week only, on the following days: Monday, January 7, 2013, through Friday, January 11, 2013, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. This course is mandatory pass/fail and will count toward the 7 credit pass/fail limit for J.D. students. Note: Attendance at all class sessions is mandatory and all enrolled students must attend the first class in order to remain enrolled. Students on the wait list must attend the first class in order to be admitted off the wait list. Enrolled students will have until Monday, January 7, 2013, 5:00 p.m. to drop this course.