New Public Law School in Mass.

Plan for Public Law School Advances in Mass.

from Legal Blog Watch by Robert J. Ambrogi

An effort to create the first public law school in Massachusetts got a boost Friday when University of Massachusetts President Jack M. Wilson gave it his endorsement. Wilson said he is convinced that the law school proposal is fiscally sound and would create a program with high academic standards. As noted here last month, the plan calls for the UMass-Dartmouth campus to take over the private, unaccredited Southern New England School of Law in North Dartmouth. The law school's board of trustees voted last month o donate to UMass its campus and assets, valued at $22.6 million. Massachusetts is one of just six states without a public law school. The plan quickly drew opposition from critics who say the state already has a surplus of law schools and of lawyers and that it would cost the state tens of millions of dollars to bring the school to a level that would allow it to earn ABA accreditation. But Wilson said the school would not consume state or university dollars and instead would create revenue. He cited figures from UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack projecting that the law school's cumulative cash balance would grow from $1.8 million in 2011 to...

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An effort to create the first public law school in Massachusetts got a boost Friday when University of Massachusetts President Jack M. Wilson gave it his endorsement. Wilson said he is convinced that the law school proposal is fiscally sound and would create a program with high academic standards. As noted here last month, the plan calls for the UMass-Dartmouth campus to take over the private, unaccredited Southern New England School of Law in North Dartmouth. The law school's board of trustees voted last month o donate to UMass its campus and assets, valued at $22.6 million. Massachusetts is one of just six states without a public law school. The plan quickly drew opposition from critics who say the state already has a surplus of law schools and of lawyers and that it would cost the state tens of millions of dollars to bring the school to a level that would allow it to earn ABA accreditation. But Wilson said the school would not consume state or university dollars and instead would create revenue. He cited figures from UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack projecting that the law school's cumulative cash balance would grow from $1.8 million in 2011 to...

click on the title for the rest