The University of New Hampshire Law Review
Abstract
[Excerpt] “In many ways, the story of modern legal education reads like a grim fairy tale, whose moral dénouement is no less compelling, and perhaps more consequential, than its fabulist forbearers. In this regard the marketing of legal education may aptly be illustrated by fable, such as that of The Trees and the Bramble Bush, which concerns the folly of electing a king. When some beautiful trees decide to look for a leader, they offer the throne to the olive, the fig and the vine; each in turn refuses, preferring to keep to its own fruitful role. The bramble steps in and accepts, soon making threats of what will happen to those that do not accept him.
The result is perhaps the law of unintended consequences at play, but it has implications for both the quality of legal education and the treasured concept of academic freedom. Certainly, the realm of scholarship has been invaded by the image-seekers and image-makers.
Legal scholarship is unique in ways that are both interesting and problematic. It has become a phenomenon of epic proportions; the bulk of what we know of such writing emanates from the 190-plus law schools approved by the American Bar Association, which collectively produce more than 680 legal journals.”
Repository Citation
Kenneth Lasson, Compelling Orthodoxy: Myth and Mystique in the Marketing of Legal Education, 10 U.N.H. L. REV. 273 (2012), available at http://scholars.unh.edu/unh_lr/vol10/iss2/5