Lawline.com

The value of a dollar: when the economy is running high, its full worth may become overlooked. In times of scarcity, such as in our current economic climate, each expenditure and each penny becomes magnified, and individuals may begin to more heavily scrutinize investments.

In the case of law school, perhaps at one point it was a no-brainer investment for earning a positive return. This may not be the case today.

This past week, a group of lawyers and legal educators met in New York for a two-day conference entitled “Future Ed: New Business Models for U.S. and Global Legal Education” sponsored by New York Law School and Harvard Law School. The attendees expanded upon the findings of the Carnegie Foundation’s 2007 report on legal education, which detailed the lack of adequate preparation law schools in general provide for students.

Law is a constantly changing profession. Just as fast as the practice changes, so must the curriculum. The economic downturn, for example, has dramatically slowed the acceptance of on-the-job training, and thus, hiring in general. To be worthy of a firm’s expenditure and costs, a new hire has to be ready to contribute and provide opportunity to generate revenue for the firm. A two-year period of training is not profitable for any firm, and this is exactly the type of education law schools need to more thoroughly prepare students for.

The meeting was intended for more than diagnostics, however. New York Law School dean Richard Matasar believes the key to having a successful future for law school and having success from this conference is based upon producing concrete, implementable ideas, according to Law.com.

If the labors of this conference and forthcoming projects can produce legal associates who are ready to make an impact in a business setting, it will be easier for those with the means to invest in law school and rest assured their returns will outweigh the costs and sacrifices.