Law Schools
Law School Struggles to Stay Open As Profs Work Without Pay
Posted Feb 14, 2008 9:00 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The New College of California School of Law plans to stay open through May, even though faculty and staff haven’t been paid since November.
Some fear the San Francisco law school is in danger of closing after the U.S. Department of Education froze $2 million in funding while it audits the wider New College campus, according to an alumni letter obtained by the Recorder (sub. req.). The letter seeks contributions for the school’s operating expenses.
The law school describes its mission as educating socially responsible lawyers and bills itself as the oldest public interest law school in the country. It shares a building with Bay Area Legal Aid.
Law professor Ora Prochovnick told the Recorder the situation is critical. "We don't have the cash flow to function and survive as a functional institution at this point," Prochovnick said. "The effect is causing us to get deeper and deeper into a hole that I don't think we can dig out of."
Edward Roybal, the law school's acting faculty chair, said that if the main campus shuts down, the law school will explore options such as transferring its program to another Bay Area law school.
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Comments
Dawn Matlachowski
Feb 14, 2008 10:40 AM CST
Why not consider operating your law school online? Just maintain your library so ABA won’t get their drawers in a snit. Save a fortune in rent/real estate taxes, and utilities, and if your students are really motivated, they don’t need face to face instruction.
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Kristy
Feb 14, 2008 11:51 AM CST
last time I checked, online law schools could not be accredited. you can’t sit for a bar exam in many states if you don’t attend classes in person. I know - I checked into this concept for Illinois.
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Holly Black
Feb 14, 2008 12:49 PM CST
New College is not ABA approved, it is accredited by the California Committee of Bar Examiners .
The main reason is that New College was not ABA approved is that the entrance fee is too great. This comes in the form of a requirement for a library four times larger than the large library that already costs New College $60,000 a year just in subscriptions to maintain and is the equal of that found in good size lawfirms. And even though the school is within a quarter mile of an enormous public law library that the students use.
But without local physical access to a paper library even California Bar accreditation would be unavailable to online law school students.
These days the students all use Westlaw or Nexus in preference to paper anyway, but it is an effective way for the ABA to prevent smaller lawschools from ever becoming approved.
Students at unaccredited law schools (including the one online school) in California may still write the bar exam., but their degrees are unaccredited and they must study for four years, as opposed to three. They typically find employment as attorneys in public service as lawfirms don’t want them.
New College School of Law had an enviable reputation. It is a major source of Public Defenders and District Attorneys. But it is part of the wider New College which is held to be either knave or fool (I’m sure you all know how that goes) over accounting practices.
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Jim Cornehls
Feb 14, 2008 10:54 PM CST
Law Schools are cash cows for major U.S.universities. That;s one of the main reasons so many are started. There already is a surfeit of law schools in the U.S., almost 200 ABA accredited schools plus all the state accredited schools, online law schools, etc.l There are 50 law schools in California alone. Law Schools are expensive to operate. Small, little known schools have a difficult time making it financially, much less attracting quality faculty and maintaining the expensive law libraries demanded by the ABA.. What’s wrong with many of the underfunded, underrated law schools going out of business? The failure rate of small businesses in the U.S. is close to 90%. Why should law schools be any different? If they can’t meet their costs perhaps they should be closed.
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Willem DeDonis
Feb 15, 2008 6:05 AM CST
There were quite a few good looking women attending this law school when I was out West in the 1990’s, and it was noticable because of the dearth of equalivent straight guys. If I went there I would have had a field day; but probably would have been too exhausted to learn much in class. I am glad I decided to stay here, and now I am still employed. But if I could go back in time and find those girls, maybe I would do things over. Man!
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Chip Beck
Feb 15, 2008 8:23 AM CST
DeDonis - That may be the best non-relevant comment ever posted here.
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Anne McNamee
Feb 15, 2008 8:37 AM CST
Yes, Willem; I’m sure you would have had a field day. All those good-looking women would have been breaking down your door. Straight and employed? What a catch!
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Paul FInkelman
Feb 15, 2008 10:06 AM CST
Imagine a serious classroom discussion “on line.” Imagine learning how to think on your feet when being pushed hard by a professor in front of 150 other students—on line. Imagine the kind of serous discussion you had with fellow students after a good class—on line.
Imagine working in a clinic on line, interviewing your clients on line, getting feedback from the supervising attorney, on line.
Imagine what kind of lawyer such an “education” would produce?
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NCLawyer
Feb 15, 2008 1:46 PM CST
If it had a “faith-based” curriculum, I wager that the Dept. of Education would not have frozen the grant. But I agree that there are lots and lots of lawschools already, and lawyers quitting the practice in droves. The last thing anyone needs is online lawschools. (To Paul Finkelman I say, “Word.”) And as for the paper library, hey, the power does go out. Sometimes the day before your brief is due. “The internet was down” does not count as excusable neglect for missing a deadline in any court of which I am aware. It’s good to know how to kick it old school. No, make that essential.
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roger reader
Feb 15, 2008 3:33 PM CST
I hear ya dabonis. Those wacko, lib, non-accredited, late cafes like New College have to be great pick up spots. Lets be honest, what kind of idiot would go to a school that isn’t approved by the ABA? The kind that should have gone to para-legal school…that’s what kind. I say let all those schools go out of business so that I don’t have to run into thier graduates in court. I don’t mind running into them in bars, but during the day I want to deal with real attorneys.
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rinatome@infilaw.com, dstone@infilaw.com
Feb 15, 2008 6:18 PM CST
Pls see attached and prior EM that I sent wihout being able to attach message. Jim
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Laural Gamp
Feb 24, 2008 10:38 PM CST
To all the New College Law Students potentially looking for a place from which to graduate:
Check out San Francisco Law School.
www.sfls.edu.
They’ve got options.
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