Concerns surfaced early this semester when the American Bar Association sent a letter to The U of M law school warning that facilities improvements were necessary if the school wanted to maintain its accreditation.
A recent ranking in National Jurist magazine sheds light on one of the current building's main problems: the law library.
The ranking, which rated 158 American Bar Association accredited law school libraries, put The University of Memphis facility in 9th to last place.
Six criteria were analyzed in the National Jurist comparison. Number of volumes, number of titles, and the number of serial subscriptions were used to determine the actual holdings of each library. Facilities were evaluated on the basis of library study seating capacity, number of professional librarians on staff and the number of hours per week each building was open.
All data used in the comparison came from the 2005 American Bar Association - Law School Admission Council Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools.
The ranking comes just five months after National Jurist ranked The U of M law school an excellent value in August 2004.
Other Tennessee law school libraries included in the rankings were the University of Tennessee Knoxville, no. 9, and Vanderbilt University, no. 48.
The law library ranking met mixed reactions from U of M law students standing outside the library Tuesday afternoon.
"At least they didn't come here when all of the books were soaking wet," said law student Taylor Berger, referring to the flooding that has been a problem on the library's bottom floor. "We have all of the books we need here, but most of the ones we use are in the basement."
Berger said the library facilities are lacking in study space, but most of the required research can be done on computers now.
The law school facility issue has become a priority for Shirley Raines and law school dean Jim Smoot, said Richard Glassman, U of M alumnus (BS'69, JD'72) and past president of the national U of M alumni association board.
"In today's tight financial times for education, there's no money to repair that building," Glassman said. "When that law school was built, it was a disaster."
He said there were building problems when he attended the law school from 1969-72.
"It would cost $30 - 35 million to construct a new building," Glassman said. "I think the choice now is to relocate somewhere downtown."
Despite the political issues at play with relocating to the Customs House, Glassman said Dean Smoot and others involved are making progress. The Customs House is currently serving as a mail sorting facility.
"Last week the governor signed a letter committing the state to financing two-thirds of the relocation costs of the law school," he said. "That's a huge step in the process."
Glassman praised the accomplishments of his alma mater: the law school boasts the highest job placement rates in the state and continued bar passage rates above the statewide average.
"With our library being in the bottom of this ranking and the things our students are accomplishing now, just think what we could do with a new facility," he said.
U of M law student Harry Lebair is not concerned about the American Bar Association taking away the school's accreditation.
"Apparently, if they want to move ahead with taking it away, the procedures that they would have to go through would take so long that it would not affect us," Lebair said Tuesday.
The addition of a law school-specific advancement position will also help in efforts to expedite a relocation or construction of a new facility.
"We will have a full-time development officer for the first time in the history of the law school," Glassman said. "Dr. Raines said that was going to happen and it is."
The law school development officer should be in place to start raising funds in the next three months.
"We're on a great track to getting this done," he said. "Dean Smoot will take us there."
