Skip to main content
Article
Seasons & Sea Changes: Weathering the Storm, an Encouraging Tale
University of Toledo Law Review (2013)
  • Linda L. Ammons
Abstract

Legal education is not immune to the realities of the marketplace. With declining applications, fewer jobs, and more and more demands from students, accrediting bodies, politicians, and employers (to name just a few), law schools and law deans are adjusting their expectations and programs to stay competitive and relevant. Managing the demands (realistic or not) of all of the constituencies who are a part of the greater law school universe, in good times, can be tricky. Trying to do so, when resources—some of which you control and others which you do not—are scarce can be complicated.

One thing is for sure. Change is inevitable. Predictability is not the constant, change is. No matter what we do, things will never be the same. This is a season of change. Lest you think that I am pessimistic about the future of legal education, let me go on record and say that I am not. Just as during the Great Depression, panics, and other recessions, when great companies including Procter and Gamble, General Motors, IBM, and FedEx, rose like the phoenix out of the ashes, those who know how to innovate, weather the storm, and prepare for after the storm will be great exemplars of success. I am not suggesting that this will be easy. The measure of success may not be exactly the same for everyone. However, it is time that thoughtful legal professionals and educators—who have mastered the facts and who are dedicated to this great enterprise, which has been the gold standard around the world for training lawyers—come together and set out on a course that will not only benefit the next generation of lawyers, but will also continue to have multiple dividends for communities around this globe. But first, we must get through the storm.

Keywords
  • legal education,
  • leadership,
  • change
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter 2013
Citation Information
Linda L. Ammons. "Seasons & Sea Changes: Weathering the Storm, an Encouraging Tale" University of Toledo Law Review Vol. 43 Iss. 2 (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/linda_ammons/26/