Legal Commentary

Maybe it?s because of the current glut of apocalyptic movies, or the closing of the decade, or helping students scramble for jobs, but recently I?ve been thinking a lot about the bursting of legal academia?s bubble and what it means ? and will mean ? for law professors. (See here and here for two takes that focus on its significance for students.) 

One issue that seems to have received less than its fair share of attention is the simple diagnostic question: Beyond the signs we?ve already seen (falling enrollment, a tighter hiring market for teaching candidates, etc.) what will it take to demonstrate that the bubble has truly burst? Or, to put it another way, how is the bursting bubble going to manifest itself? Will more law schools simply close?  If so, will lower-ranked schools go first? Private or public schools? Will tenure be weakened? Will two-year programs proliferate? Online and distance education? Will law schools stop hiring professors to do theoretical research, and will that portend an increased focus on doctrinal scholarship? Will student-run journals simply stop publishing? 

By asking what things will look like if and when they get worse, I don?t mean to ignore how hard they already are for current and aspiring law professors. But our difficulties don?t compare to those faced by students and practitioners. And while the legal profession seems set to reorganize itself in a truly fundamental way, I don?t yet see a similarly far-ranging movement afoot in the law faculties. Some of the changes I mentioned above are already underway, but I'd wager that law schools are still hiring faculty at a higher rate than firms are hiring associates, and those folks lucky enough to have teaching jobs seem to be doing the same things that law professors have done for decades?teaching some (more?), publishing as much as possible (even more?), attending conferences (fewer?) and so on. 

I?m sure we?re all working harder at those traditional tasks, and hopefully we?re all working especially hard to find jobs for our students and graduates. But those seem to me to be changes at the margin, not the kinds of fundamental changes that legal practice is contemplating?moving away from the billable hour, significantly lowering rates and salaries (an issue covered in Fabio?s great post last week), closing offices, and so on. We?re all feeling the strains, to be sure. But to return to the initial question: If we?re going to experience truly momentous changes, and if the current situation hasn?t been enough to force them, what will?