That's the title of a new piece that Markus Funk,* Andrew S. Boutros,** and I*** have forthcoming in the Texas Law Review Online Edition. You can read it in PDF, or below; we still have plenty of time to edit it, so we'd love to see any corrections or suggestions. Here's the Abstract:
Adjunct professors are fixtures in law schools around the country. Yet they are among the least examined, least understood stakeholders in today's legal education industry. For example, few know that most law schools turn to adjuncts to teach more than 40% of their elective courses yet give them virtually no institutional voice; that adjuncts effectively pay for the privilege of teaching; and that a typical full-time professor makes roughly seven times more than an adjunct for teaching the very same course (while also costing the institution considerably more in overhead).
This thought piece, written by two long-term adjuncts and a tenured professor, conducts the first deeper-dive examination of the adjuncts' role in today's law schools. The article examines why adjuncts take on the responsibility of returning to school to teach, how laws schools and professors benefit from adjunct instructors, the professional and reputational risks facing today's adjuncts, and why—despite these challenges—adjunct teaching positions continue to be highly sought after.
In the final analysis, most U.S. law schools would be unable to continue operating as normal if this sea of legal temps suddenly decided to stop teaching. As such, it stands to reason that law schools each semester should be laser focused on ensuring that adjuncts are fully integrated into the institutional fabric and are otherwise made to feel welcomed and appreciated. But at present, too many law schools fall short on their efforts to foster a constructive community conducive to strengthening positive relationships between full-time faculty, administrators, staff, students, and adjuncts. We, therefore, wrap up this short excursion into the largely unseen economic, professional, and interpersonal realities facing today's law school adjunct instructors by suggesting practical steps these important institutions of higher learning can take to improve the relationship for the adjuncts, institutions, and students alike.
And here's the main body:
