The number of new law school students in this academic year continues to drop: 37,924 new law students enrolled this year, the least since 1973 and a 30% decline from the high in 2010. The New York Times DealBook reports: A Steep Slide in Law School Enrollment Accelerates.
There has never been enough good lawyers, although there definitely are too many not so good lawyers. The legal job market these last few years has not been good, expenses and tuition have continued to climb and many are concluding – quite reasonably in my estimation – that other fields on the whole offer better opportunities.
My own law school, Tulane, reports that it has reduced its incoming class size to the smallest since the early 70's while also substantially increasing the group's overall qualifications, i.e., higher GPA's and LSAT scores. Good.
And I want to plug a book by one of my favorite professors at Tulane, Oliver Houck, Downstream Toward Home: A Book of Rivers.