The Advent of the Law School Firm in the United States

Arizona State University has taken bold steps to open a law school law firm in 2016 in America and there are pilot programs across the country experimenting with alternative forms of career placement for its graduates. Certain economic pressures in the American legal market and academic pressures in legal education create an environment where the concept of a law school firm is being seriously considered. There is a similar comparative situation in the Republic of Korea, although there are different elements at play. However, such factors as high unemployment amongst recent law school graduates, a need for additional training, increased competition for law school students and the increased importance to prospective law school students of employment data of past graduates, make the law school firm a potentially useful venture both nations. The creation of law school firms in the United States will be likely formed as self-funded non-profit organizations and follow the established three year law school model, where law students are hired after three years of law school. Similar to teaching hospitals and resident doctors, the law school firm will be a temporary job placement for young attorneys to gain experience working under senior attorneys prior to finding long term employment. While the idea of the law school firm promises to increase the employment rates of law school graduates and provide needed training, the ability of the law school firms to address the problems facing the legal field must be understood in the respective legal markets of Korea and America. It is unlikely that law school firms will be able to significantly change the employment opportunities of most students and those law schools that open law firms must take care to address issues of fairness in hiring and compensation. But given the harsh realities of a competitive market in a depressed economy, there is accelerated opportunity to give this novel concept a try.