The Age of the PhD Law Professor Is Upon Us, Study Says

As recently as a decade ago, law schools were happy to hire professors with no more than a J.D. degree. That arrangement is officially history, according to a new study.

“This is the beginning of an era in which the PhDs control law faculties,” said Lynn LoPucki, a UCLA School of Law professor who authored the study.

Titled Dawn of the Discipline-Based Law Faculty , the study reviews the entry-level hires of AALS-member law schools between 2011 and 2015, and finds a sharp uptick in the rate at which law schools are hiring faculty members with PhDs. LoPucki believes the trend in favor ...