Activism urged on general counsel for the long-term good of law departments

The NYSBA J., Oct. 2010 at 36, discusses in an article how law schools need to evolve. In one paragraph, the author mentions three ways that general counsel could wield their influence for the greater good of the profession. They are to (A) “pressure the ABA to change the accreditation regulations to allow more flexibility in the law school model, like distance learning and greater use of non-tenured faculty”; (B) “push for a national bar examination and faster, more streamlined admissions processes”; and (C) “pressure state authorities to let non-attorneys officially provide the kind of work they need and have needlessly and traditionally been overpaying licensed attorneys to do – like discovery, expert witness preparation, patent filing, and similar tasks.”

The second and third initiatives make sense to me. (B) would ameliorate issues with certification for in-house lawyers and (C) could save enormous amounts of money.

Along with these long-term efforts to change the industry come tort reform, collective positions on punitive damages and class actions (two give but two examples), as well as both statements and action for corporate social responsibility (pro bono, diversity, environment, health.).