Top Ten Places Desperately in Need of Law School

The recent post about Tacoma possibly getting a new law school set-up made me wonder what other American cities are in need of a law school.  Take heed, budding law deans, capitalists and state legislatures, the following ten cities are RIPE for a profitable, public-serving college of law to attract top-notch legal talent and produce even topper-notched legal talent!

1.  GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

Greenville, South Carolina, has around 1.4 million people.  NO LAW SCHOOL.  The state only has two law schools, and both are in cities of much lower population closer to the Atlantic.  There is no ABA-accredited school of law within a 90-minute drive of this metro area.  How the hell does anyone get a lawsuit filed in that part of the state?!?!?!  While the legislature is fielding questions about taking over College of Charleston, they should also be demanding a law school.  Clemson School of Law would instantly be prestigious and Furman Law Center would fit nicely with Elon.  Or maybe South Carolina State could open a law school branch there for a public HBCU option.  But for the love of all that's holy, end the legal anarchy in Greenville and get that town legally educated.

2.  ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

Unenlighted people complain that New York has too many law schools.  Even if this were true, most of them are concentrated in the New York City metropolitan area.  Did you know that the ENTIRE "upstate" New York area only has four law schools?  Between Cornell, SUNY-Buffalo, Albany, and Syracuse, they can't quite cover the needs of such a broad swath of real estate.  The loser is Rochester, which has over 1 million people, a booming industrial sector dating back over a century, and NO LAW SCHOOL.  The closest school is over an hour a way.  I think the University of Rochester School of Law could fill this void nicely, and hopefully with lots of international law classes to fill the sorely needed gaps in Trans-Lake Ontario legal relations.

3.  FRESNO, CALIFORNIA

Did you do a double take?!  I sure as shit did.  You hear the trolls talk about California being "saturated."  Uh, hello?  There's no ABA-accredited law school within a metro area of around 1.1 million.  It's at least a two hour drive to the closest ABA-approved legal education route.  THINK OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO MOVE.  NO LAW SCHOOL.  As UC-Irvine has shown, there is a huge demand for public legal education in California.  This one's easy:  Fresno State College of Law.

4.  EL PASO, TEXAS

Not only is El Paso over a million residents in the metro area, it's a metro area that crosses state lines AND international lines.  How is there NO LAW SCHOOL in such a perfect location?  How are filings being made and wills being drafted?  How do corporations merge and whatnot?  For this one, my solution is a joint effort between UTEP, New Mexico State in nearby Las Cruces, and Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez just across the river.  We'll call it the Intertransnational Universidad de Law.

5.  CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE

900,000.  Three-state metro area.  No ABA accreditation for at least 90 minutes.  Christ on a pogo stick, how do you people live with yourselves?  How do you fill the void in the fabric of social life?  How does it feel when you're brain-drained of legal talent to Knoxville and Nashville and Atlanta while your city starves for legal services?  NO LAW SCHOOL.  FIX IT.  And pssst... UT-Chattanooga Law School just rolls off the tongue, Tennessee legislature.

6.  SARASOTA, FLORIDA

NO LAW SCHOOL.  It's an hour to Stetson and over an hour and a half to Ave Maria.  There's almost a million people in this combined statistical area who likely all suffer from the relative dearth of legal talent, a world where no one can divorce or settle a claim.  Solution:  Manatee School of Law.  Sponsors and investors needed.

7.  MCALLEN/BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS

Tons of people here, most of which are legal.  And yet another area where opportunities for the application of international law are inescapable and yet NO LAW SCHOOL.  The University of Texas-Pan American is right there.  Pan American School of Law.  Public, private, who gives a flip, just build it and teach the lemmings and lemmingos.

8.  WICHITA, KANSAS

Washburn is in the state capital, Topeka.  University of Kansas is near Kansas City.  What's missing?  Oops - we forgot the 700k metro area in the middle of the state without any viable legal education options.  What gives, yo?  How the hell are the rural areas of western Kansas supposed to stay lawyered up when their talent is brain-drained all the way to the Missouri border?  Two solutions to this NO LAW SCHOOL NIGHTMARE:  Wichita State School of Law and/or Friends Law School.

9.  MOBILE, ALABAMA

They need lawyers on the gulf, but you wouldn't know it since there is NO LAW SCHOOL from New Orleans to Tampa otherwise.  Alabama is lawyer-starved, and Mobile seems like a great place to add one.  It's nonsense that these people have to move two hours to get the sweet and savory taste of law.  The University of Mobile is Baptist-affiliated, and we need more Baptist-affiliated law schools.  Mobile College of Law should be born.

10.  RENO, NEVADA

Reno has 500k+ in a growing state.  But alas, UNLV remains the only law school in the entire state.  NO LAW SCHOOL anywhere else.  That's neglectful.  This city is a secondary epicenter of gambling law and sorely in need of additional legal education.  Let's put one at the University of Nevada School of Law.