HD Medial editorial: MU law school makes sense through specific lens - Charleston Gazette-Mail
Every now and then, someone asks why a university named for a chief justice of the United States doesn’t have a law school. The answer usually is that West Virginia already has a law school, at West Virginia University. Can the state afford to support another law school, and is the state really that short of lawyers?
Some legislators are asking a different question now, and it’s an intriguing one: How about a law school for people who don’t plan to practice law?
Last week, House Bill 4425 was introduced in the West Virginia Legislature by Delegate Matt Rohrbach, R-Cabell, that would authorize a law school at Marshall University. Should it be approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor, HB 4425 would require Marshall to prepare a strategic plan for a law school by Nov. 1.
Rohrbach told HD Media reporter Courtney Hessler that he envisions the school being housed at Marshall’s South Charleston campus. It would offer a nontraditional schedule geared toward people who are working or who would need to go part time and allow them to go at their own pace. He said it would be geared more toward nighttime, evening or weekend classes.
“It would open legal education to a lot of individuals who are already into their professions that could see the value of having a legal degree, perhaps even if they don’t want to practice law,” he said. “They could be in insurance or banking or any number of professions that training in law school would be a great help to them in their professions.”
The future of higher education includes providing services to people who have begun their careers and who need training in other fields.
“There’s a lot of people with a need, but they can’t really quit what they’re doing and move to Morgantown for three years,” Rohrbach said.
Marshall already has an executive MBA program at South Charleston that reaches a similar market. One plus for Marshall would be strengthening its position in the Kanawha Valley.
Starting a law school from scratch wouldn’t be easy. It would need faculty and accreditation. Marshall would need to determine whether Southern West Virginia and, perhaps, Southern Ohio and Eastern Kentucky have enough people willing to enter such a program to make it self-sufficient.
If such a market exists and a law school would benefit Marshall, the university would need to move quickly before another university establishes a law school of its own.
And then there could be a turf war with WVU, which might want to begin its own program in the Kanawha Valley.
HB 4425 has six co-sponsors: Daniel Linville, John Mandt Jr. and Evan Worrell, R-Cabell; Tom Fast, R-Fayette; Chad Lovejoy and Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell; and Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh. That indicates bipartisan support from the local delegation, plus interest from Raleigh County.
It’s an opportunity Marshall would be wise to pursue.
source: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/editorial/hd-medial-editorial-mu-law-school-makes-sense-through-specific-lens/article_4f7e7ad8-7d63-5f04-834c-a1d02324ef8b.html
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