Disruptive Leadership in Legal Education

22 Richmond Public Interest Law Review 365 (2019)

University of Hawai’i Richardson School of Law Research Paper No. 3309981

15 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2019 Last revised: 11 Nov 2019

See all articles by Nicholas A. Mirkay

Nicholas A. Mirkay

William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii

Palma Joy Strand

Marquette University Law School

Date Written: November 23, 2018

Abstract

Legal education is ripe for disruption because the legal profession and the law itself are ripe for disruption. In the last recession, demand for legal education dropped 40 percent, and only in the last year are we seeing increases in law school admissions. The recession illuminated an even bigger crisis for law and legal education—an increasing mismatch between the limited services that the law and lawyers provide and the vast and acute societal needs for legal services. A recent American Bar Association study estimated that 80 percent of the poor and those of moderate income lack meaningful access to our justice system and legal services.

Ample scholarship exists on how to restructure legal education to address this mismatch. However, this essay undertakes a new focus—the tough and potentially perilous road of attempting necessary change in a real-world law school setting. We impart our experiences as unwitting “disruptive leaders” prodding a small, private law school to meet the changing legal environment, and experiencing extreme blowback as result. We discuss characteristics of academia generally that contributed to this resistance—tenure, academic freedom, and the imperatives of university administration to raise funds and maintain tradition rather than respond innovatively to shifting economic and social dynamics. We also highlight characteristics of legal education that make disruptive leadership particularly unlikely to succeed: the ABA monopoly in legal regulation and the gendered nature of law and legal education.

This essay provides a narrative that will resonate with many in legal academia, as well as academia in general. The peer reviews we received also confirmed that this essay will jumpstart an important and necessary conversation on these issues.

Keywords: legal education, higher education, leadership

Suggested Citation

Mirkay, Nicholas A. and Strand, Palma Joy, Disruptive Leadership in Legal Education (November 23, 2018). 22 Richmond Public Interest Law Review 365 (2019), University of Hawai’i Richardson School of Law Research Paper No. 3309981, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3309981 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3309981

Nicholas A. Mirkay (Contact Author)

William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii ( email )

2515 Dole Street
Honolulu, HI 96822-2350
United States
8089569435 (Phone)

Palma Joy Strand

Marquette University Law School ( email )

1215 W. Michigan St.
Milwaukee, WI 53233
United States

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