Let’s assume that you have decided to go to law school. How do you choose where to go? There are many different factors to consider. Despite sweeping condemnations in the popular press, not all law schools are alike, and not all will be right for you. Because of the number of variables that play into your decision, I’ll take up this subject in the next three or four postings.

So this week the question is the general one of why you might go to law school, especially given the rotten economy and bad press (the latter of which I hope to have at least somewhat cleared up in my last posting). Next week I’ll talk about how to choose a law school, assuming that you have decided you’re interested.

The popular press has accused law schools essentially of cheating their students for their university’s enrichments. In my last posting, I explained why this is largely untrue and, from an economic standpoint, both irrational and improbable. Today I’d like further to set the record straight by discussing the way law schools are financed and how tuition is established.

Goaded by sensationalist stories in the popular press, the blogosphere has largely described the business of legal education as a scam. Among the allegations are that law schools are “cash cows” for their universities, transferring large sums of tuition dollars to their central administrations at the expense of student education. It’s time to set the record straight.