Jerry Organ
Liam James Doyle/University of St. Thomas

In the News: Jerry Organ on Law School Enrollment

Law professor Jerry Organ was quoted in an article by ABA Journal where he discussed the need for law schools to consider the legal market in their area when planning enrollment.

From the article: “The problem with Florida Coastal was the people running it didn’t think carefully about how many graduates made sense in that legal market. Once they got ABA accreditation, they exploded,” says Jerry Organ, a professor at Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas School of Law whose academic work includes data-driven articles about law school enrollment and employment outcomes.

According to ABA 509 Reports, Florida Coastal in 2012 had 1,594 students. Florida currently has 11 law schools, including Florida Coastal, which under its teach-out plan has ABA accreditation until July 2023. Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School also has a Florida campus, in Tampa Bay. According to a 2020 ABA study, Florida had 3.7 lawyers for every 1,000 people.