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UD to consider adding law school

If approved, school could open in 2015

Published: Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Updated: Tuesday, December 7, 2010 18:12

The university will study the feasibility of adding a law school within the next five years, officials announced Tuesday afternoon. If formally approved, the law school would likely open in Fall 2015 and annually enroll 200 first-year law students.

"A law school could help support UD's growing prominence and help us gain parity with our peers," university President Patrick Harker said in his semiannual address to the Board of Trustees.

The board voted to authorize the administration to proceed with the study, submit it to the American Bar Association and present it to the board at its next meeting in May. With further permission from the board, officials would spend two years developing a financial plan and designing a curriculum.

Before moving forward to open the law school, the administration would need final approval from the board in 2013. Officials said the university will only go ahead with the plan if its initial review shows the plan would contribute significantly to legal education nationwide and make the university stronger.

Harker said that opening a law school could be beneficial to the state, citing Delaware's role as the nation's corporate law capital.

"By operating a first-class law school in a state known for its considerable influence in corporate law, the University of Delaware could occupy a special niche in the nationwide legal community, attract top-notch students and faculty from across the country and produce future law and business leaders for Delaware," Harker said. "At the same time, a law school would offer extraordinary opportunities to strengthen multidisciplinary research and teaching within UD's existing academic programs."

He said one challenge would be funding the project and noted the university would need to seek donors willing to help fund the creation of a law school.

"Investing in a new law school is expensive," Harker said. "It would require subsidization of operating costs for the better part of a decade, retrofitting a campus building or leasing space for the law school's first decade of existence, and making a substantial one-time start-up investment in library resources."

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10 comments

Anonymous
Fri Dec 24 2010 09:35
I disagree with Anonymous on Dec. 16. UD should focus on its current strengths, building on that by working to become even more prestigious at what it is already known for. As another commenter noted, Princeton does just fine without a law school, and you can't get a whole lot more prominent than Princeton. Quality is far more important than quantity.
Anonymous
Thu Dec 16 2010 21:16
The vision is a good one. A prominent university should offer a College of Law, College of Medicine and a College of Business. UD should be on this track even if it takes a few years to get there.
Anonymous
Thu Dec 9 2010 11:18
Open a medical college! There is no MC in Delaware and, unlike law, healthcare is adding jobs. Oh wait? Pat T. Harker is doing some cost benefit analysis and it's cheaper to open a law school than a medical college as MC's often loose money on students. UD is acting like the corporate giant they are while ignoring their mandate to educate and EMPLOY the students of tomorrow.

I have friends who went to-GW, Georgetown, Stanford- who can not find jobs...

Anonymous
Wed Dec 8 2010 12:00
" But Delaware could surpass Drexel and become the 2nd best law school in the area. "

Penn, Virginia, Georgetown, GW, Villanova, Temple, Rutgers, American, and the NYC schools (NYU, Columbia, Fordham) are all a train ride away. Even if you confine your area to Wilmington and Philly, Delaware has quite the uphill climb before it can be the second best school in the area.

I'm a Delaware alum and currently in law school and found a summer gig in Delaware. It was not easy. The Delaware firms travel to all these schools, and the kids from those schools travel to Delaware firms. Whether this is a good investment or not will depend entirely on the tuition etc. We'll see.

Answer this question: "Tell me why I shouldn't hire the kid from Penn?"

Anonymous
Wed Dec 8 2010 11:46
Princeton seems to be doing fine without a law school. So are Brown and Dartmouth. The market is saturated. Law might be a regional product, but law school is not. There is no need for an additional school within the state borders and any prospective law student worth their salt would never attend a school with no track record, alumni, etc. You will have a 3rd tier institution (at best) and the top DE firms will still hire from out of state. This is a terrible idea. Period.
Previous Poster
Wed Dec 8 2010 11:19
And, as I warned in my previous posting, here it is: http://abovethelaw.com/2010/12/university-of-delaware-starts-the-new-law-school-process/#more-47912

The blog makes a great point about how the law school is to raise the profile of Delaware but Harker does not speak to wanting to contribute to society by adding more lawyers to the realm or how well the graduates will be able to fare upon graduation.

Anonymous
Tue Dec 7 2010 23:22
I disagree completely... first of for the person who said Widener Law School is good enough. That's ridiculous, Widener is sub par and is nowhere close to being anything other than a last choice. As for law schools in Philadelphia, of course UPenn will be better than Delaware, that's just how it is. But Delaware could surpass Drexel and become the 2nd best law school in the area. For everyone talking about how law students can't get jobs. That may be true NOW, but they aren't even looking to start the school till at least 2015 which means graduates won't come out till 2018. If the economy is still terrible in 8 years then all graduates are screwed anyways. Lastly, almost all prominent schools have both a law and medical campus. If Delaware wishes to be seen as a top tier school, my personal feelings are that it will eventually need both.
-UDel Mech. Engineering
Anonymous
Tue Dec 7 2010 21:42
Absolutely insane, and Delaware is about 3 years too late to jump on the purely economically motivated law school generator train. I have come out on the other side, and I think that there should be a very, very strong look taken at the currently huge trend of regret and backlash happening right now amongst law school grads and lawyers. I was actually happy that Delaware didn't have a law school. Plus, the hypothetical future grads will have an even harder time getting a job than the already currently challenged because the school will inevitably be 4th tier as a new school. And, current students, please re-think the law school path unless there is some astronomically motivating reason other than "its a good profession and a lucrative one." That is quite far from the truth. I am employed and I make enough to get by but unless that lottery ticket kicks in, I will be paying off this 180k debt for years. Go read www.abovethelaw.com. Please, Delaware, pay attention to that blog because it represents the common sentiment. This idea is going to be mocked, and it kills me because UD is so wonderful for so many other reasons. Even the ABA is finally, finally beginning to make some movement toward restricting the proliferation of law schools. Also, relatively unknown, but law schools' employment rates include part time jobs and non-legal jobs...and the law schools do not disclose that information...their rates are inappropriately inflated. ABA is looking to crack down on that, too. Alrighty, rant is over. UD, continue with the med school idea because there is such a demand but run from the law school idea before the bloggers catch wind.
Anonymous
Tue Dec 7 2010 21:21
I couldn't agree more. We already have Widener Law school, and the general Philadelphia area has so many law programs that I can't see how a law school at Delaware would fufill any kind of need. This is a dumb idea. UD needs to capitalize on what it's strengths are- the engineering and business department, rather than try and fund a whole new department that isn't needed.
Anonymous
Tue Dec 7 2010 19:14
Is Harker insane? Students from good, established law schools can't find jobs so now is the time to start a new law school? Does he realize that almost all high quality corporate legal work involving Delaware law takes place in New York City or other major markets and most of what Delaware law firms are used for are state law legal opinions?




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