interestedcitizen Anonymous

The law school is not proposed to be developed at the South Dallas Campus. It is proposed for Downtown Dallas at the old Dallas police headquarters. If the law school is an economic engine at all(which is questionable), it will be an economic engine for downtown Dallas, not the southern suburbs. The southern tier mayors are just being used for a "southern strategy" that is really intended to boost downtown development.

That "economic engine" language is Chamber of Commerce speak. It is a buzzword that is more myth than fact.

Houston has two public law schools and one private law school. The DFW area has two private law schools. Waco has one private law school. San Antonio has one private law school. Lubbock has one public law school. Austin has one public law school. A public law school was tried and failed in South Texas, yet, if the need of the people is the justification for a law school, South Texas needs a publicly subsidized law school more than North Texas, because South Texas has no law school, period. Neither does El Paso, clearly one of the major metropolitan areas in Texas.

The DFW area has no shortage of lawyers. If there were a shortage of lawyers, lawyers wouldn't be scrambling for business with full page yellow pages ads. Do businesses settle in Houston because it has three law schools? I doubt it. Do they settle in San Antonio, Waco, or Lubbock because they each have a law school? I doubt it.

Businesses settle in Houston because it is an international port city. They settle in San Antonio because of its central location, and its centuries old ties to major trade routes. Though Waco's law school is legendary, Waco and Lubbock export most of their lawyers. Lawyers do not draw business to Waco or Lubbock.

I doubt, if Waco and Lubbock were to lose their law schools, that the economies in either of those towns would suffer one way or the other. We're talking about 400 or 500 students in each town. That number of students does not have a big impact on an economy. They are living at the survival level and they aren't necessarily loyal to the town where they are receiving their education. They will not necessarily pour their time, talent, and resources back into the community where they get their education.

How is a law school an economic engine? Did a law school in Fort Worth boost its economy? Does a public law school in Austin boost its economy? How?

The main function of lawyers in an economy is to rearrange the furniture, not to produce anything new. Lawyers facilitate the transfer of wealth, from generation to generation, from producers to consumers, or from consumers to producers.

Lawyers do facilitate commerce when they help business people and venture capitalists put together plans, but it isn't lawyers who make the deals happen. Arguably, the involvement of a lawyer on the front end of a deal might lead to better decision making and business planning while the deal is underway and it might lead to a smoother transition when the deal falls apart. Lawyers can help prevent messy breakups that undoubtedly harm the economy.

Still, how is a law school an economic engine? How does a law school "jump start" an economy? We need more clarification instead of Chamber of Commerce buzz words.

Lawyers are just there to help, and, at present, there is no shortage of lawyers willing to help.

Do people flock to an area to do business because it has law schools? I sincerely question that.

Investors are attracted to an area because it has research departments, capital, and smart workers with a strong work ethic. Smart people and technological breakthroughs are what build economies.

I think an excessive number of lawyers, crawling all over themselves looking for the next business to sue, would drive away private investment and kill an economy.

7 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )