El Paso Law School Position Paper

El Paso Law School Position Paper El Paso is the sixth-largest city in Texas, it has a dense population, and it is considered one of the most famous border cities in the United States. As one of the most important cities in a state, you will guess that education, hospitals, and housing are amongst the most developed public services. I would say El Paso is well developed, but it is still missing some of the major components we would expect in a city. In comparison to Tuscaloosa, being the fifth most important city in Alabama, the state's university built the UA School of Law there. It makes me wonder the reason why El Paso does not have a law school. As I began my research and thought genuinely about the consequences of building a law school in El Paso, I came across various articles. Apparently, there is a group of locals who are members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) that are advocating for a law school in El Paso. They, of course, argue the positive aspects of having a law school, but in this paper, I will state some of the negative aspects. One of the effects that society would have if a law school is built in El Paso is that prospective law school students would not want to leave. El Paso is a very comfortable place, people are very kind, it is home for many Hispanics, and just the mere fact that it is our home. We know that there are a lot of significant opportunities and jobs out there, so building a law school in El Paso would prevent students from taking a chance. The reason why this affects us as a community is because we know that there are not as many Hispanics/Latinos in the government: representatives, senators, and delegates in Congress. If one of our most significant Hispanic communities would not take these chances, we will not be well represented nor heard. If we want to build a law school in El Paso, the UT System might be our only resource, but I don't think they will allow this. We know that the UT System already has Austin's Law School, and it is considered among the most important in Texas; it is, in fact, number 16 in ranking in the US. The UT System would not allow Austin's Law School to be discredited. By taking this chance, they are risking sharing their student population, and not only that, a law school in El Paso would automatically be the last one in the "law schools ranking in the US." According to U.S. News, the U.S. law school rankings are determined by the quality assessment, selectivity, placement success, and faculty resources. (Robert Morse, 2018) This would position an El Paso law school in the last place only because it would be new, so it would not have this kind of data. Having a law school will have definitely have an effect on El Paso's economy. We would automatically guess that it would benefit the economy because it would bring in new people, but that is not always the case. In fact, a law school in El Paso would affect the economy (in the legal field) because "many large, out-of-state corporations that need legal work done in Texas are choosing small firms outside the big markets to get the job done. It's simply less expensive that way. El Paso firms have been the beneficiaries of that money and, as a result, are hiring." (Roberts, 2009) This means that bringing in more lawyers can risk salaries to go up as well as filling up the positions in law firms, which potentially could leave the legal field with no jobs and without money from out-of-state corporations. El Paso is a loving city, my home, and I would never want to leave, but I know I am not the only one that thinks that way. As corny as it may sound, El Paso can't have it all, and that does not always mean a bad thing, but actually, it is a good thing. I love what I am studying, and I love my hometown, but it is that same love for my community that pushes me to do better, so that one day I may be able to represent them with dignity and respect. Bibliography Robert Morse, K. H. (2018, March 28). Methodology: 2020 Best Law Schools Rankings. Retrieved from U.S. News: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/law-schools-methodology Roberts, T. (2009, October 26). El Paso Inc. . Retrieved from El Paso Inc. : http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/bad-economy-is-good-for-el-paso-law-firms/article_2c7cbb11-de28-5637-9ea4-798f84c82429.html