Technological change has always disrupted the marketplace, and during the last decade the increasing pace of changes in technology has led to correspondingly faster and ever more profound changes in every aspect of our economic lives. The market for legal education is not immune to these and other developments, forcing law schools to give serious consideration to making dramatic changes in the delivery of legal education.

As the profession demands more practice-ready graduates, law schools must ensure that their students' classroom education is complemented by ample opportunities for a wide range of practical training in both traditional legal settings and new and high-growth fields requiring legal talent. Indeed, in response to the shifting sands of the market, the American Bar Association (ABA) now mandates that law schools require their students to complete at least six credit hours of so-called experiential learning before graduation. Although most, if not all, American law schools have long offered some form of clinical education or a formal externship program, the new ABA requirements call for every school to evaluate its programs and ensure they are sufficiently varied to meet student professional interests while serving important community needs.

Law schools in densely urban environments like New York have the opportunity to create diverse and robust programs through a wide variety of strategic partnerships. Law schools in suburban or rural settings, however, may face more limited opportunities because of lower population density and less diversity of economic, and therefore legal, activity.