When the global financial crisis hit in 2008, over 2.6 million people in the U.S. lost their jobs. No industries were spared not even the legal profession, which had historically been among the most secure.

Wide-eyed college graduates used to flock to law school because it was the golden ticket to a stable and financially secure career. But the legal environment has changed drastically since that crucial year. As the demand for law-related jobs has shrunk, law school graduates have begun competing more fiercely than ever before, according to law school deans across the country.

Before 2008, we saw a lot of people go to law school because it was the best option, said Robert Rasmussen, dean at the University of Southern California Law School. Now the students that Im seeing are making a conscious decision that they really want to be lawyers.

In the interest of making their graduates more competitive candidates for jobs, law schools have amped up their number of practically-oriented programs, instituting more business-related courses, law clinics and career center initiatives. But a debate has emerged among scholars and legal professionals: Should law schools focus on theoretical teaching, or do they have a duty to prepare students for their future careers?

Yale Law School tends to skirt the question altogether. Over 25 faculty, students and administrators claimed that Yale Law School does not have to make any compromises between the two paths. Not only is it an institution that has topped law school rankings for years it is also just different.

Photography by William Freedberg

Faculty and administrators interviewed said Yale Law School has a stable identity, making it relatively exempt from the current debate on liberal versus practical law education. The school consistently gets a sizable slice of the job market pie but it also remains faithful to the same ideals and principles it held at the time of its 1843 founding.

We have not felt that pinch because we are still in the top of the top tier, and we have never been a law school that has ever relied exclusively on the private sector, said Yale Law School Dean of Admissions Asha Rangappa.

Deputy Dean for Experiential Education Michael Wishnie said the school is more committed to theory and experiential education, in the form of clinics, than any other law school in the country.

But just because the school enters the discussion on legal education from a more privileged standpoint does not make it immune altogether.

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