Author: Martin J. Katz, Dean and Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Pundits are drawn to extremes. Perhaps that is simply the nature of things. But in the debate over the future of legal education, espousing extremes hinders the discussion. At one extreme are the loudest critics of the current state of legal education. They claim that law schools are focused almost...

Author: William Sullivan, Rebecca Love Kourlis, and Martin Katz, Executive Committee, Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers

  As David Segal’s November 19 article accurately reflects, the legal market is changing.  Clients are no longer willing to foot the bill for young lawyers’ training, and thus law firms are increasingly looking to the law schools to produce practice-ready graduates. The good news is that...

Author: Rebecca Love Kourlis, Executive Director, IAALS - Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System

Law schools are being targeted by the media and by former students for failing to provide adequate information about actual employment of graduates, and for graduating more lawyers than the market can bear. Candor and market sensitivity are important, but they are effects – not causes. Law schools owe their...

Author: Martin J. Katz, Dean and Associate Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

When we discuss legal education reform, some of the more jaded members of our community often ask, “Why is this time any different?”  They rattle off a list of dust-covered reports about proposed reforms for legal education, often dating back several decades, and wonder how we can...