For the class entering law school in the fall of 2013, law school applicants have ebbed to a 30-year low. The collapse in demand for law school admission is producing profoundly serious business problems for a large proportion of U.S. law schools problems that, for the moment, are hidden from public view as the resulting budgetary issues migrate from the dean’s suite to the office of university presidents.
In a nutshell, central universities are being asked or will be asked, in ways that will not inspire confidence in the current law school leadership to provide a financial backstop so their law schools can enroll fewer students or offer more sizeable scholarships to fill the requisite number of seats. Because of the magnitude of the financial stakes involved million-dollar shortfalls just for the upcoming fiscal year with no clear end in sight this is as difficult a decision as a university president will ever face.
