The American Bar Association received a great deal of publicity lately when, at a meeting in Dallas, it identified some serious problems with the legal profession. Problem No. 1 is the debt young lawyers have when they graduate from law school. Problem No. 2 is the perception of inaccessibility of lawyers to the "middle class." Another often heard complaint is that when young lawyers graduate from law school, with their soul owed to the company store, they are not truly trained and competent to practice law.
The answer of the bar association is to cut formal law school education from three years to two years, and to permit paraprofessionals to practice in certain areas of the law. This will somehow address debt and the plunging need for lawyers around the country. A Wall Street Journal analysis indicated that 50 percent of law school graduates cannot find jobs.
