Developers: Planned Law School in Daytona Beach Would Cost Up to 35% Less Than Most Schools
Plans for a law school in Daytona Beach, Fla., are in the works.
Jacksonville, Fla., lawyers Eric Smith and Steven Nemerson, both former educators, are behind the plans, along with Jacksonville developer Jim Catlett, the Florida Times Union reports.
Smith says Daytona Beach, with its large population of aeronautical and health care professionals, is the ideal location for such a school, which he says will cater to nontraditional students and cost up to 35 percent less than what a traditional law school costs.
“Law students are absolutely being bled dry to get an education,” he says. “I don’t think it has to be that way. I think that an excellent legal education can be delivered for substantially less cost.”
A possible location for the school—in a long-vacant police station—has already been found, the group says. The next step will be to submit a formal proposal to either buy or rent the property from the city. The groups says the planned school could open its doors as early as August 2013.
Nemerson, who has taught at law schools in New York and Minnesota, says he has always been disturbed by the prevailing model of legal education, which he calls the “one-size-fits-all” approach.
He says the planned school will focus on “core courses,” or those designed to help students prepare for the bar exam, which will leave little room for the “vanity courses” that more traditional schools offer.
The school would need to acquire a state license to operate. After one year, it could apply for provisional accreditation to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, which accredits law schools in the country.
