WASHINGTON, D.C.  Jan. 31 (DPI) – The latest report on the coming contraction in U.S. legal education quickly hit the top of the most-emailed list on nytimes.com today, as commentators said law school layoffs are imminent.

“In the ’80s and ’90s, a liberal arts graduate who didn’t know what to do went to law school,” William D. Henderson, a professor of law at Indiana University, is quoted as saying. “Now you get $120,000 in debt and a default plan of last resort whose value is just too speculative. Students are voting with their feet. There are going to be massive layoffs in law schools this fall. We won’t have the bodies we need to meet the payroll.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/education/law-schools-applications-fall-as-costs-rise-and-jobs-are-cut.html?hp#commentsContainer

Meanwhile, reader comments following the brief NYT article ranged from “it’s-about-time” and “this-is-all-healthy” themes to lamentations that legal education had ossified,  becoming too theoretical, and that the law itself had become too process-oriented.

One commentator who identified himself as a lawyer with more than 20 years experience said the following (this comment received more than 65 recommendations as of Jan. 31 5pm):
“Law School gives you a tool. It is up to you what you do with it. If you hold out for the 160k/yr entry level job you are fighting for what is a rare bird. If you took on 150k in debt in expectation, you have a problem.

“I’d recommend NOT going to Law School unless you have an entrepreneurial gene. The days of “the big firm” taking care of you, like mommy and honest workers getting a union wage, are gone. It is tough out there and the classic rule is an associate must take in 3x their salary to pay off…and a first year baby lawyer is an investment, not a profit center.

“If you open your own shop, and try to address real legal needs, it will take you a while to gain traction but you will never be tortured by some “senior partner” with anger issues. You will gain many clients and the referral network will eventually take care of you. This is a long road from the fresh-ink of bar admission, but can happen.

“There are many dead ends in the legal world, contrary to what you “learn” watching TV lawyer shows. Since a Law School education is learning about how Businessman A tried to “get over” on Businessman B, I remain surprised at that.

“The real issue with education is that ALL schools everywhere just assumed mom and dad would refinance the house to pay tuition. That spigot is closed, student debt bondage has maxed out and reality has hit.”