Lack of local law school poses no hardship, sources say

Missouri State University – perhaps the logical local choice for a school that could offer a law degree – is actually prohibited from having a law school by state regulation relating to its 2005 name change.

In Senate Bill 98, signed into law March 17, 2005, Section 1 prohibits MSU from duplicating any doctoral degree program in the state system without first partnering with an existing program.

MSU’s noninterest

Legislation aside, there are other reasons why MSU isn’t interested in offering a law degree, according to MSU Chief of Staff Paul Kincaid.

“Establishing a law school takes space and quite a bit of funding,” Kincaid said. “We don’t have the space, we don’t have the funding, and it is not a high priority for us. The legislation is almost a moot point.”

Kincaid said the university is content with its programs and has not found the law to be a hindrance. Neither have the students, according to Kevin Pybas, an assistant professor of political science and a prelaw adviser at MSU.

“Most students do go (to law school) nearby in the sense that they stay in state,” Pybas said. “Most of our students go to (University of Missouri-Kansas City) or Columbia because (in-state) tuition is so much less expensive.”

Jeff VanDenBerg, an associate professor and prelaw adviser at Drury University, largely agrees, noting that Drury is not interested in adding a law school to its offerings at this time.

VanDenBerg said he occasionally talks to nontraditional students who could benefit from a local law school, because for some students, and particularly those with families, leaving town to go to law school isn’t an option.

Pybas said that a student can enter law school with any undergraduate degree, and a specific prelaw education is often not the best choice.

Students are encouraged to get a functional undergraduate degree in case law school does not happen for them, Pybas said, and while he may recommend certain courses, he encourages students to study for an undergraduate degree that interests them.

“Sometimes I’m steering them away from political science,” Pybas said. “I ask them why they want to study it. If their answer is ‘It will help me go to law school,’ I say, ‘You should think about something else you enjoy.’ It is so competitive to get into law school, and you can go to law school as an English major or a psychology major.”

Night school

Steve Garner, an attorney with Strong Law Firm and president of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, attended law school in Fayetteville, Ark. He said would-be lawyers know that there’s not a law school locally and are able to adjust their plans accordingly.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who couldn’t benefit from local access to a law school.

“I think the people that are affected by not having some sort of law school here are those who might want to attend at night,” Garner said.

SMBA Executive Director Crista Hogan agrees with Garner, citing the Master of Laws, an advanced law degree.

“If there was a local school here where you could do that, I would probably get it,” she said.

Hogan, who went to school in Tulsa, Okla., said that the hardship of leaving the Ozarks to go to law school is minimal when compared to the other sacrifices of time, effort and money.

It has no effect on the available talent pool in Springfield, either.

“We have no problem recruiting exceptional talent here,” Hogan said. “We have a lot of very, very talented lawyers, and I think the customers of the legal community – our clients – are being very well-served.”

The only other possible downside could be in continuing education, which is required for attorneys, but Garner and Hogan both note that the SMBA works hard to provide that for its 800 members.

“The people who join … get access to very good continuing legal education; we put on a number of seminars,” Garner said. “You also get access to your peers in the form of private education. You can call other members of the bar with ... a case problem, assuming they are not on the other side of the case.”