Earlier this week, I wrote about a proposed reform from Professor Anita Bernstein, wherein law schools would teach students about the perils of practicing law.  One BigLaw firm chairman thinks that’s not enough; instead, students should avoid law school altogether.  In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal [sub. req.], K&L Gates chairman Peter Kalis sharply criticized the existing law school model, and warned students about taking on all that debt:

WSJ: In addition to layoffs, law firms have dramatically cut their hiring of law school graduates. Do you think many college graduates today should think twice before they head off to law school?

Mr. Kalis: Yes. The business model of the U.S. law school doesn’t quite make sense to me. Law schools will bring you in from college and educate you, but they will encumber you with six-figure indebtedness at a tender age.

The assumption was that there was no problem, because law firms like K&L Gates would pay that off for you. And that is where the wheels are falling off.

I’ve heard that law school applications are actually increasing. We will be pouring tens of thousands of young people into a market that I suspect is not going to be able to absorb them at the remuneration levels that would have justified them taking on that debt.

Is it too late to get my money back?  Although, I suppose things could be worse: I could still be in law school.  (Sounds like things aren’t going so well for those folks.)

-Michael