By: Danny Jacobs

We’ve written about the tough legal job market for law school students, and the dean at UB Law recently told us he anticipates the number of law schools in the country will shrink in the years to come.

This apparently has not deterred administrators at the University of Delaware, which will study the possibility of opening a law school in Newark in the fall of 2015. The law school would be the second one in the state (after Widener) but the only public one.

Above the Law is skeptical of UD’s venture:

You see, the rationale for this new law school is that it’ll make the University of Delaware look good to have a law school. It has nothing to do with legal education or professional services. Sure, some will say that because of Delaware’s unique role in corporate governance, a state law school makes sense. But that’s not why they’re doing it. The corporate law stuff will be an add-on tagline some marketer weaves in as the school fights for funding and public recognition. It’s not going to be a core value of the new school. From the very start, the president is telling you what the core values will be: taking the University of Delaware to “the next rank” of American higher education — a “rank” that will decided by U.S. News, no doubt.

Any Delaware alums out there want to chime in? Also, do you think this new law school have any impact on Maryland’s two law schools?