法律教育

沈明：法学院的生意（一）：美国法律教育困境的制度分析

内容提要：美国法律教育在法律全球化进程中具有举足轻重的影响。然而，过去十余年来，其繁荣表象之下逐渐显露出种种困境，并在2008年以来的经济萧条中演化成危机。从宏观制度结构着眼，美国律师协会对法律教育机构的认证制度以垄断性的高标准推高了法律教育和法律服务的市场价格，维系了以法学教员为代表的法律职业群体的高额利润。即便美国司法部对美国律师协会的反垄断诉讼及制裁也未能实质性扭转不公平的法律教育市场竞争格局。过去一个世纪以来，塑造、掌控、维护着法律教育体制的法学教授群体的课时量负担不断下降，与此同时，薪酬却持续上涨到明显领先于法律职业总体水平的高度。课时量与薪酬的反向变化是推高法学院学费的直接原因。自19世纪后期现代法学院在美国大学中建立以来，其社会功能定位不断由职业教育向学术研究倾斜，法学理论与法律实践之间的张力极大地扭曲了法律教育机构。法律交叉学科研究不但与司法实践日益隔膜，而且还使教学本身在法学院中愈加不受重视。其后果颇为严重：不但直接损害了学生的利益及教育市场公平，而且在间接意义上，因法律教育从业者以违背职业伦理的方式获取社会的转移支付而损害了社会正义。

关键词：法学院 法律教育 社会功能 薪酬 课时量

NYT: Is Law School a Losing Game?

By DAVID SEGAL

IF there is ever a class in how to remain calm while trapped beneath $250,000 in loans, Michael Wallerstein ought to teach it.

Here he is, sitting one afternoon at a restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a tall, sandy-haired, 27-year-old radiating a kind of surfer-dude serenity. His secret, if that’s the right word, is to pretty much ignore all the calls and letters that he receives every day from the dozen or so creditors now hounding him for cash.

“And I don’t open the e-mail alerts with my credit score,” he adds. “I can’t look at my credit score any more.”

Mr. Wallerstein, who can’t afford to pay down interest and thus watches the outstanding loan balance grow, is in roughly the same financial hell as people who bought more home than they could afford during the real estate boom. But creditors can’t foreclose on him because he didn’t spend the money on a house.

He spent it on a law degree. And from every angle, this now looks like a catastrophic investment.

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