A Cost Way Too High to Pay: The New York Times on the Price of Law School Tuition

Posted on December 18, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

Is there any rational basis for the outrageous cost of law school tuition? Not by any measure.

There are currently billions of dollars in defaulted law school tuition loans, much of it guaranteed by the federal government. At the same time, the number of law school graduates obtaining meaningful employment continues to plummet, while law schools continue to raise tuition and increase the number of seats for law students. Even as the number of jobs for recent law school graduates continue to plummet, starting salaries for lawyers are also on the decline to the point that recent graduates cannot afford to amortize their student loans and provide themselves with food, clothes and shelter.

In a classic game of passing the buck, the law schools blame the ABA for imposing costly requirements, law school professors disclaim any responsibility, claiming that to attribute blame to them is akin to blaming the proliferation of roaches because of the ban on DDT is akin to blaming the roaches. They also claim that the high cost of legal education is due to outmoded guild rules and that law firms need to justify high hourly rates to pay for recent graduates. Law firms blame the schools because new associates need to earn enough to pay for their student loans. Law firm clients are saying “whoa, this is none of our business; we’re not paying for training first and second year associates.”

This whole Alphone and Gaston thing is slowly crumbling, while nobody seems to be paying attention, as unregulated providers of legal services, not having even attended law schools or having been admitted to any bar, are gaining significant market share.

The entire existing eco structure is simply crumbling before our very eyes.

Filed under: Law firm associate efficiency, Law firm associates, Law school recruiting, lawyer training, Legal Education, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Creating Better Law Firm Leaders: What Law Firms Can Learn from Google

Posted on March 14, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

What is the measure of a good law firm managing partner, or for that matter what is the measure of a good practice leader, an office leader or, indeed, the lead lawyer on an important case or transaction? Google embarked on a year-long study mining millions of pieces of data and set forth the qualities of good leadership skills. There is much the profession can gain in reading these principles and being guided by them.

Filed under: Alternative Business Structires for Law Firms, Lateral law firm partner, Lateral Partner, Law firm associate efficiency, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, law firm project management, Legal Education, Legal Project management, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century, Value Billing | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Lawyers Beware: Your Job May be Replaced by a Computer

Posted on March 8, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

The New York Times recently reported that “Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software.” In fact, the computer software the Times reported about is not only dramatically cheaper — the software is actually 5% of the cost of lawyers performing the same task – the software does an incredibly more thorough and, yes, more thoughtful and insightful job. This breathtaking and indeed chilling innovation comes on the heels of IBM’s Watson’ stunning performance on Jeopardy. In describing the era that Watson will bring, IBM’s general counsel predicted that the technology that created Watson will be deployed to replace armies of young associates, again performing lawyers’ duties at substantially lower costs and with dramatically better results. And, of course, Watson and his progeny won’t get tired, headaches, bored, distracted, demand bonuses, engage in gossip or demand to be promoted to a firm’s partnership. The technology train rushing down the track will create ever-escalating changes in how law is practiced and how associates are deployed. The huge bullpens of staff and temp lawyers performing document review may soon be empty cavernous halls. The number of “partner track associates” which law firms will hire, will slow to a trickle.

The nation’s law schools, still reeling from The Great Recession, will feel an even more profound impact. Already spewing out far more law school graduates than the system can absorb in an era of vast legal unemployment and underemployment, new technologies will dramatically further reduce the demand for law school graduates. Clients’ demands are compelling law firms to embrace these and other emerging technologies. For law schools to survive, they will need to produce a new product. A scholar learned in the law and proficient in computer programming and analytic skills. If law schools fail to meet this challenge, law firms will be doing the bulk of their recruiting at computer science graduate programs.

Filed under: Downsourcing legal services, Hiring and training lawyers, Law firm associate efficiency, Law firm associates, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, law firm project management, lawyer training, Legal Project management, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Outsourcing legal services, Project management for law firms, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century | Tagged: , , , | 5 Comments »

Do Law Firms Really Need to Occupy Tens of Million Square Feet of Office Space?

Posted on January 18, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

Are desk top telephone appliances about to be a thing of the past? In fact, is your own comfortable office also about to be a dinosaur?

As we continue to ponder the future of the law firm, most particularly, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century, our visions are necessarily dramatically affected by escalating technological advances. The centerpiece of every lawyer’s desk for over 100 years has already undergone breathtaking changes in the last 25 years. Frankly, we ain’t seen anything yet.

Consider the possibility that not only is your telephone a relic, but, perhaps your very office might be similarly an unnecessary, extravagant and wasteful expenditure.

Filed under: Internet based marketing, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 721 other followers