Projecting future needs is a painstaking and hazardous affair. Avoiding such pain, however, is even more hazardous. There is good reason to attempt to project the next decade's need for, and potential supply of, new lawyers in Kentucky. Adequate legal services are an important ingredient in orderly economic growth and an essential element in preserving a free society. On the other hand, an over-abundance of lawyers can depress the economics of the profession to the point at which its ability to sustain desired standards of ethical conduct and to attract a high caliber of new talent are both threatened. Moreover, it is a poor allocation of personal and public resources to expend the time and costs required for intensive professional training if the services of those trained are not in adequate demand.

This study attempts to analyze Kentucky's lawyer-manpower requirements over the next decade. Special emphasis is given to the impact of that projected need upon desired graduating class size at the two in-state law schools.