The first thing we do, let's mill all the lawyers.

• Author: Speizer, Irwin
• Position: Elon University plans a law school

Stop me if you've heard this one: Why does California have the most lawyers and New Jersey the most toxic-waste dumps? New Jersey got first pick.

Or how about this one: Why does New York have the most lawyers per capita and North Carolina the second-least? Oh, wait a minute. That one's not the start of a joke. It's part of the rationale behind a sudden urge to build law schools in North Carolina.

Leary Davis, a law professor at Campbell University in Buies Creek, is studying the feasibility of Elon University building a law school in Greensboro. He says Tar Heel law schools reject 200 to 300 qualified state residents annually. That excess demand has educators in a lather to launch law schools. The focus is on Charlotte and the Triad, regions seen as underserved by the five law schools in the state: Campbell, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina Central University in Durham, UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.

Elon began deliberations last year and is hustling to reach a verdict by the end of summer. Its competition is concentrated in Charlotte and includes UNC Charlotte, Queens University and Florida Coastal School of Law, a for-profit institution in Jacksonville, Fla. UNCC has been trying to make the case that as the big school in town--19,700 students--it could do a better job of...