The Teaching Law Firm

On the Madisonian Blog they have a post about the prospect of the “teaching law firm.” The post outlines some of the competing demands of law schools and broader questions on whether the practical training of new lawyers is appropriately fully placed in the laps of the law school:

Many views can drive the analysis. Law firms, clients, students, and law faculties all have opinions on the matter. One answer is seen in a comment to Leiter’s post about W&L. The idea seems to be that a law student will be ready to practice on day one. In other words there seems to be a training gap. Law firms and clients want first year associates to be ready to go. Indeed, law practice might be shifting. As I noted before, some firms have changed how they handle first year associates by reducing or eliminating the billable hour requirement as way to improve associate retention. In its place comes a requirement to shadow associates and partners as a way to learn the job. Part of this change comes from large corporate clients who refuse to pay to train first year associates.

So law firms might be happier if students were fully trained. Clients have much the same view. Students are in the same place. Yet these demands may be irrational. A reflection on medical education helps see why. There is much to say regarding the way the two professions differ and how training varies. For now one reflect on these points. Medical students graduate with more debt than law students, enter residencies of about three to seven years at around $40,000/year, and then are fully trained to be in practice (note: a true general practice doctor takes one year of training though such physicians are increasingly rare).

A possible solution, of course, is the proposed teaching law firm:

In short, a demand that law schools train a law student so that future employers will not have to train them is odd, for few, if any, professional schools operate on this model. Yet there may be a solution: a teaching law firm. Such a firm would have live cases and full time attorneys who teach as part of their jobs much like medical professors at teaching hospitals. Indeed, I believe there is a labor pool that would like such a position (think: of counsels). Ironically, big firms, small firms, and students may not like such an institution.

But, as briefly noted above, there may be some concerns with regard to competition:

A teaching law firm will be a competitor. In some cases it may take on the high-profile cases of that a big firm might. In others, it may take on cases that solo and small firms might take. Students may not be pleased as they may be making less for the first few years. (Of course often one career path is to take a position with a D.A. or P.D., be paid a decent amount compared to a medical resident, be trained along the way, and then go to private practice for the big money).

Overall, however, insofar as there are gaps in service be they in public or private sector areas (i.e. more megafirms and more solo firms with fewer middle-sized firms able to help the business and legal needs of individuals and small businesses), a teaching law firm could fill that gap. Each firm would be able to meet market needs in the region. Furthermore, it may generate capital that could reduce fees for law school.

It will be interesting to see how this idea develops in law schools and in the legal profession. For instance, if newly minted lawyers can truly “hit the ground running” when they arrive at the law firm, then can they expect higher pay? I imagine that a number of other related questions may arise.