There is this interesting academic debate on American Legal Education. It's better rephrased as, where are the jobs? Will the law schools ranked 50 and above survive this decade? Will students from top 14 law schools get jobs if they don't graduate in the top 30% of the class? It's interesting because we are talking about JD's. That indicates LL.M's have an extremely slim chance of pulling it off.

The Shrinking Pyramid: Implications for Law Practice and the Legal Profession

April 12, 2013

A consensus seems to be emerging that lower demand for law school
graduates will become a permanent feature of the legal market, most
notably in large law firms whose business model has been based on a
large number of associates at the bottom of a pyramid with a small
number of equity partners at the top. Lower demand reflects the impact
of forces such as intensified client insistence on cost-effective
legal services, the growth of more widespread expertise in mapping and
disaggregating legal work, the use of increasingly sophisticated
technology and communication systems, the development of new forms of
collaboration between clients and outside lawyers, the provision of a
larger portion of legal work by in-house counsel in some corporations,
and the emergence of networks and supply chains as basic units in the
provision of legal services.

This symposium will explore the potential implications of this major
shift in how legal work is organized and provided, and how careers in
the law are unfolding. Scholars from a variety of disciplines will
offer insights into what may lie ahead for the legal industry as these
trends accelerate, addressing issues ranging from the evolving
structure of law firms and legal work to the training and career paths
of young attorneys.

As with previous symposia, our aim is to provide an active dialogue
between scholars and practitioners. Scholars will gain a keener
understanding of the texture and experience of law practice from
thoughtful lawyers who daily confront the challenges of a profession
in the grip of tumultuous change. Practitioners will gain insight into
larger structural forces and trends that might otherwise escape their
attention.

We hope you will explore the shifting nature of the legal profession
with us at Georgetown.

PROGRAM AGENDA

Please visit the Program Agenda website to view the full program
agenda for The Shrinking Pyramid: Implications for Law Practice and
the Legal Profession.