Let law students 'vote with their feet,' Northwestern's dean says (Video)
Northwestern Law School Dean Daniel Rodriguez says he supports a proposal under consideration in New York that would allow students to take the bar exam after two years of law school without getting a degree.
Some fellow deans have told him privately that the idea is putting “the economic model of our law schools in jeopardy,” and he says he hopes a large number of Northwestern students wouldn’t take the option. But it would help some students cut tuition costs, and force schools to “justify” the third year of school, he says.
“It’s about putting our money were our mouth is,” he says. Schools will need to focus on practical training in the third year to keep students, so the year isn’t—as is often said—where “they bore you to death” but where schools “bore in on” getting students practice-ready.
Rodriguez also talks about his school’s plan to cut the size of its incoming class by 10 percent and to increase financial aid to students. He talks with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia.
