This is a presentation I gave to the University of Auckland Faculty of Law on May 19, 2014, on the state of legal education in the United States.

1. The State of Legal Education in the USA
Stephen M. Bainbridge
William D. Warren Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA
2014 Cameron Visiting Fellow, University of Auckland Faculty
of Law
1

2. Legal Employment Before Financial Crisis: Growth Plateaus

3. Demand for Legal Services, 1960 = 1
3
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
1945
1947
1949
1951
1953
1955
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
Legal Services as % GNP Federal District Court Filings Per Capita
Source: Richard Sander, UCLA

4. Supply of Lawyers versus Demand for Legal Services, 1960-1
4
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
1945
1947
1949
1951
1953
1955
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
Legal Services as % GNP US Lawyers Per Capita Model of Licensed Lawyer Per Capita
Source: Richard Sander, UCLA

5. The Recent Past: Declining Opportunities The Future Looks Grim
Legal Employment: Post 2008 Financial crisis

6. Latest UCLA Data
6
76%

7. Tuition Debt
Financial Trouble
7

8. Effect
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9.  Client pushback on costs continues
 Increasing reliance on non-lawyer legal service providers
• Paralegals
• Self-help (e.g., Legalzoom.com)
 Outsourcing to legal support service companies in low
wage English-speaking countries (especially India)
• Market growing at 30% per year since 2009
Probably a Permanent Shift
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10.  In rough order of probability:
1. More transparency from law schools on employment data
2. More “experiential learning”
a. Clinics
b. Simulations
c. Externships
3. More online educational opportunities
4. Tuition freezes
5. Reduction in class sizes
6. Reduction in faculty size
7. Reduction in size of law school administrations
8. Law school closures
9. Third year apprenticeship
10. Two year J.D.
11. Three-Three Degrees (3 years undergraduate; three year law school)
12. Making law an undergraduate major
Reform
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11. For More Information
11
Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an
Overlawyered America
• Walter Olson
Don't Go To Law School (Unless): A Law
Professor's Inside Guide to Maximizing
Opportunity and Minimizing Risk
• Paul Campos
Failing Law
• Brian Tamanaha