Three years ago, St. Louis University’s law school found itself in crisis at the exact time it was trying to pull off a major relocation to a new building downtown.
Then-university President Lawrence Biondi was openly feuding with Dean Annette Clark. Her anger at being left out of big decisions, including the law school move, led to her abrupt resignation a month before the relocation.
The plan to replace her on an interim basis with brash personal injury attorney Tom Keefe lasted just six months before he quit after provoking an uproar on campus over a series of comments even he described as “politically incorrect.”
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On top of those personnel issues, there was uncertainty over whether the move made sense financially and how it might affect students. Not to mention the move came as law schools around the country were starting to see significant declines in the number of students pursuing legal degrees.
Among American Bar Association-approved schools, law school enrollment dropped to 119,775 students in 2014 from a historic high of 147,525 in 2010.
Three years after moving downtown, people in the know say SLU’s law school is a different institution than the one formerly housed on the Midtown campus.
It has quietly reduced staff and bought out faculty members as the number of students has declined to 502 in 2015 from 954 in 2010.
But unlike other higher education institutions where a similar loss of students would almost certainly spell disaster, people inside and outside of SLU’s law school say that, at worst, the school has stabilized itself.
At best, its trajectory is pointing upward.
“We won’t ever be as big as we were 10 years ago,” the law school’s dean, Michael Wolff, acknowledged last week. “But I think we’re in a good position. We’re poised for growth.”
Like many other private institutions not subject to state Sunshine laws, SLU and its law school usually don’t discuss subjects such as budget projections and staffing cutbacks.
But in an interview last week, Wolff said the law school had lost a handful of clerical staffers in the last several months and six or seven instructors through attrition and retirements. Roughly five faculty have left after accepting buyouts, he said.
“The buyouts were voluntary, and we offered a generous severance,” Wolff said, adding that the law school helped some employees find new jobs.
Wolff is also leaving. He announced in April that he is stepping down from his position after 30 years at the university. He has not given a date for his exit as a 13-member committee searches for his replacement.
In an effort to chart the future of the law school, SLU recently hired the consulting firm Alix Partners to compile potential changes to the law school’s operations. At least some of the recent staffing moves followed.
Both the law school and Alix partners agreed to keep the report confidential.
In an email obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Wolff told faculty and staff the report would be made available for viewing only through appointments coordinated by his executive assistant, Bridgette Thomas.
“The report will remain with her, and she will provide it for viewing in the seating area in front of her desk. Persons viewing the report may not remove the report from the seating area, copy it, take notes from, or photograph it,” Wolff wrote.
“Prior to viewing the report, each person will be required to sign a confidentiality/nondisclosure document and give it back to Bridgette,” the email continued. “The signed document is consistent with the contractual agreement between the Alix Partners and the university.”
Wolff called the report a crucial “fresh set of eyes” to assess the law school. He called the subsequent reorganization of the institution necessary as part of a process to “right-size” itself.
“This was necessary for the growth of the school,” he said. “We depend a lot on alumni donations. If we’re perceived to be too big, donors aren’t interested in contributing. They want you to be right-sized. They don’t want to think they are propping something up that is too big.”
Experts agree that as recently as 10 years ago, law schools were oversaturated with students and produced too many graduates for the jobs available.
The downturn followed shortly after, with fewer students applying.
SLU law school spokeswoman Jessica Ciccone says that in response, law schools are competing for a smaller pool of students, and consequently are offering more scholarship money to the students who apply.
SLU law professor Sidney Watson was a part of the faculty group that helped with the consulting and reorganization.
Finding the right balance of students, and then offering them enough financial support to finish, is a noble strategy, she said.
“It’s what the Jesuits would do,” she said.
Several others pointed out that the market is shifting in favor of students.
“This is the perfect time to go to law school,” SLU law professor John Ammann said. “There are fewer people applying and there is more scholarship money available.”