The New York Times reports that this year’s LSAT takers were down to 129,925, down from 155,050 last year, and 171,514 the year before. This could be down to the notoriously difficult nature of the test and the fact that many people don’t make the most of the help that is out there when it comes to passing it, like lsat tutoring. David Segal, For 2nd Year, A Sharp Drop In Law School Tests, N.Y. Times, March 20, 2012, at p. B1. There are also other theories as to why this may be. One of which is over the years the earnings and image of the legal profession underwent a metamorphosis, attracting hordes of young people to law school. Alas, many of these young people, though bright enough, lack the patience and dedication that the practice of law requires, and the temperament to be lawyers, and one byproduct of this phenomenon has been a profession full of people who don’t like what they do for a living, and who, in disregard of the best legal tradition, misbehave in and out of court. So if fewer of those don’t go to law school . . . Maybe that will be a benefit in the long run, not only in a competitive sense but also in keeping that reputation admirable.
As for your faithful servant, he went to law school in antedeluvian days and never had to take the LSAT. Didn’t hurt our career and our accomplishments one bit. There may be a lesson in that.
Anyway, if fewer bright young people become lawyers and more become engineers, the country may be better off.