Recession and Law Schools

Recession Crimps Plans For New Law Schools is an interesting June 1, 2009 article from the National Law Journal. It is about the effect the economy is having on planned new law schools. As you can imagine, the effect is not good. As the article states:

A slowdown in contributions, coupled with state budget cuts, has clipped the wings of fledging institutions nationwide. Nearly a dozen new law schools have been in the works during the past year. Given the economic climate, some institutions that had planned to open law schools in 2010 are considering pushing back those start dates. Others are scaling back building plans and fundraising. At the University of New Haven in Connecticut and St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., proposals to start law schools could be tabled indefinitely.

"The only challenge we've had is the economy," said Tim Johnson, vice president of institutional advancement at Louisiana College in Pineville, La., which is re-evaluating whether to delay the opening date of its new law school by one year. "When things level off and begin to go back up, it'll make things easier. But it's been the biggest hurdle."

At Louisiana College, a private Southern Baptist institution, officials will re-evaluate their law school's 2010 opening date unless they raise at least $7 million during the next six to eight weeks, Johnson said. If that initial goal is met, the college could begin recruiting a founding dean, administrators and faculty members. Much depends on whether donors meet their commitments. "A lot of them are waiting and seeing what the economy is doing," he said.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein