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It also links worsening outcomes to student-loan availability, law-school competition, and technology-driven disruption in the legal market, stressing that quality alone is not the core issue.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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of legal education is broken as a value 1 proposition.2 Like a building with an undermined foundation, it must be rebuilt rather than refurbished. And, like any rebuilding project, it will be costly and disruptive to many of its occupants. However, it will also present unique opportunities for innovation and renewal. This essay suggests a few of the contours for such a rebuilding project and describes a few of the benefits that might result.  \nI. THE PROBLEM  \nTo begin, let us clear away some of the nonsense that far too often mires any progress towards real change within the legal academy. This is not simply an acute problem arising from a recent economic downturn. Instead, it reflects a chronic and substantial increase in the real cost of a legal education over the past thirty years, coupled with a real decrease in the economic value of that education based on significant changes in the world in which lawyers earn their livings. The increase in cost was almost certainly fueled by the com-  \n* Professor of Law, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. The views contained in this essay are solely my own. I do, however, wish to acknowledge the extensive, and very much appreciated, collaborative contributions and support of my colleague, Meredith R. Miller, in developing the ideas put forth in this essay. Any shortcomings are, of course, solely my own.  \n1 In this essay, I will use the term “value” to indicate “financial value.” I would of course acknowledge that there are many extraordinary intangible values associated with a legal education, and many worthy objectives in pursuing a legal education beyond merely “making money.” However, those intangibles and alternative objectives are rendered entirely moot if graduates cannot even feed and house themselves while making their loan payments. In short, the “value” proposition necessarily fails if the result is unreasonable financial hardship. See infra p. 377 (explaining more fully how neither the IBR nor PAYE provides a viable general solution to this problem) .  \n2 See, e.g., BRIAN Z. TAMANAHA, FAILING LAW SCHOOLS (2012) .  \n375  \nbination of law school competition for ratings fame and the easy availability of student loans,3 while the downward economic pressure on lawyer earnings has likely reached its most recent and extreme crisis proportions as a result of technological innovations.4 Whereas these innovations generally provide a boon to clients, they are providing a disruptive near term bane for many lawyers—not to mention law schools and their faculty members.5  \nMoreover, the issue is not solely a matter of making legal education better.6 To be sure, many aspects of modern legal education can be improved (and, in many cases, are being improved)—especially those related to legal practice skills and rapidly evolving technological innovations. The current quality of American legal education is, however, almost certainly better than ever before and better than anywhere else in the world. Quality is not the most significant problem today. Nor is the issue limited to greedy would-belawyers seeking hefty salaries from prestigious law firms.7 In fact,  \n3 See George Critchlow, Kim Kardashian and Honey Boo Boo: Models for Law School Success (or Not), 45 CONN. L. REV. (forthcoming 2013), available at [http://ssrn.com/abstract=2046339](http://ssrn.com/abstract=2046339) (analogizing law schools‟ chase for U.S. News ranking“fame” to the more general chasing of “fame” by the title characters) .  \n4 See, e.g., William D. Henderson, A Blueprint for Change, 40 PEPP. L. REV. (forthcoming 2013) (thoroughly addressing the technology driven structural changes in today‟s legal market), available at [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2202823. Even](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2202823. Even) the most skeptical observer would presumably agree today that th","cbCaiku7nVxfmLYJ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiku7nVxfmLYJ","pdf",181055,14,"English","# I. THE PROBLEM\n## The cost-value breakdown\n## Beyond quality improvements\n## Structural market and technology pressures","[{\"question\":\"What does the essay identify as the core problem with American legal education?\",\"answer\":\"It argues the model is broken as a value proposition because costs have risen substantially while the economic value of the education to graduates has declined.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the essay say rebuilding is needed rather than refurbishing?\",\"answer\":\"It compares the system to a building with undermined foundations, emphasizing the project will be costly and disruptive but necessary for meaningful innovation and renewal.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors does the essay connect to worsening economic outcomes for law graduates and schools?\",\"answer\":\"It cites law-school competition for rankings and the availability of student loans, alongside downward pressure on lawyer earnings amplified by technological innovations disrupting the legal services market.\"}]","AN ESSAY ON REBUILDING AND RENEWAL IN AMERICAN LEGAL EDUCATION - I - THE PROBLEM | PDF",1789962230,35]