The mandatory (in nearly all states) path into the market for legal services is three years of study in an accredited law school followed by the state bar exam. Get through all that, and you’re allowed into the guild. It has been that way since the 1920s, when the American Bar Association decided that there were too many people competing for business and threw its lobbying weight behind a campaign to “professionalize” legal education by demanding that it last three years.
Most lawyers will tell you that what they need to know in their work hardly ever involves material studied in law school.
Reflecting on this, in today’s Martin Center article, Matthew Anderson argues that legal education in Britain is far more sensible — from society’s standpoint. He writes, “In Britain, where our common law comes from, the very source and culture of the law is taught as a regular undergraduate subject, and in three years instead of four. In the U.K., you’re considered qualified to begin your legal career with your new LL.B. (Bachelor of Law) or B.A. Jurisprudence degree.”
It could be that way in the U.S., but the ABA would fight tooth and nail to preserve the high barriers to entry that it currently enforces.
Furthermore, Anderson informs us, “The U.K. also hosts an accelerated conversion program, the GDL, or graduate diploma in law, for anyone with a non-law background. This is a qualifying course and covers an entire law degree in one year. Several U.K. universities also allow both undergraduate and graduate law programs to be done through distance learning, online. The highly-rated University of Edinburgh and University of London are two examples.”
Why does this matter? A big reason why it does is that the excessively high cost of entry into the legal-services market drives up the cost of legal help. After investing a huge sum to get over the necessary hurdles, few lawyers can afford to live on fees from poorer people with small cases. The ABA acknowledges that, but its solution is more government-subsidized legal assistance.
We need to liberalize the market for legal education and legal services, and Britain shows how our system could be improved upon.