“Untenable” Conditions Shrinking Tenure of Law Deans

It’s getting harder for law schools to retain deans, according to a report the Association of American Law Schools published last week.

Up until 1990, the average tenure for a law dean was about 10 years. But that number has been on the decline ever since, with the average law dean now serving fewer than five years at a single institution. As of last year, some 25 percent of law schools had a new dean. 

Those findings “should concern everyone who cares about the future of legal education,” said the report, which was the result of a survey of more than 200 law deans and 70 interviews conducted between November and February. 

When asked to rank their biggest stressors, 66 percent of deans cited financial pressures and budget constraints as a major challenge. Meanwhile, 40 percent cited work-life balance, 32 percent cited bar-passage rates, 31 percent cited relationships with university administration and 28 percent cited faculty recruitment and retention.

However, the interviews revealed that though budget constraints were the top concern, the pressure on law school deans “is rarely just about money,” the report said. “It is about being held responsible for outcomes while lacking the authority, the resources, or sometimes even an accurate financial picture needed to address them. More than one dean used the word ‘untenable.’”

And law deans from groups that are underrepresented among law school leadership had even shorter average tenures. According to the study, female deans serve an average of two years fewer than their male counterparts, while the average Black or African American dean lasted 5.5 years, compared to a 7.9-year average for white deans.

“The findings underscore the growing complexity of leading a law school in an era of financial uncertainty, institutional change, and increasing demands on legal education,” Patricia Roberts, dean of St. Mary’s University School of Law and co-author of the report, said in a statement. “Understanding these pressures is essential to strengthening the leadership pipeline and ensuring the long-term success of law schools and the students they serve.”