Law Students' Corner
| Publication year | 2011 |
| Pages | 16 |
Law Students’ Corner
The Definition of Economy
By Ganesh Nair, University of Kansas School of Law, gnair@ku.edu
Did you know that 10 out-of-state law students together make a $1 million investment to come to law school? That sum may seem outlandish, but it reflects the reality that finances are a crucial aspect of the legal profession and legal education. As a law student with a business background through undergrad and in corporate America, I see one crucial element that law students often lack exposure to. That element is the business side of law. I'm not talking about transactional or bankruptcy law, but the actual operations of a law firm. As law students, we would be wise to learn more about this aspect of legal practice because the business operations of law firms are very closely tied to our future.
Law school does a very good job educating its students in several different areas. Among other things, law school teaches us to understand substantive and procedural law, to be ethical and maintain professional responsibility, and how to create memoranda using CRAC. With so much other ground to cover, there is not a lot of time left to discuss the intricacies of law firm business plans and related topics. Savvy law students should recognize this and spend some time acquainting themselves with these important components of a legal career. I know, sometimes it is tough to focus on anything other than outlines and papers, but it really isn't that difficult to become familiar with the basics of law firm business operations. In fact, the KU Law Legal Entrepreneurs is a new organization that will help students build awareness and gain knowledge of the business operations side of legal practice. The organization will aim to bring in speakers like solo practitioners, managing partners, partners, CMOs, and CFOs. The organization aims to be a resource for students to understand business development, legal practice trends, and the general financial aspects of a law firm.
The genesis of our new student organization was the recognition that the legal employment market, like most other employment markets, is tougher than it has been for a while. Why are students having a more difficult time getting legal employment, be it internships or jobs? The obvious answer is the economy, which InvestorWords.com defines as "activities related to the production and...
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