Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, plans to open the state’s sixth law school in 2011. Although some critics have questioned the necessity and value of the new $25 million law school, given today’s tight legal market, the school’s leaders recently cited that it will serve a specific local niche as an alternative to the internationally known Vanderbilt University Law School and the Nashville School of Law, which offers a night and weekend program for professionals remaining at work while attending school.
Bob Fisher, the President of Belmont University, also explained that the law school aims to provide an innovative and specialized curriculum for its students. Students at Belmont can choose to focus their legal education in the fields of music and health care, for example. In its first year, Fisher expects approximately 350 to enroll at the school.
Nashville is not the only city in Tennessee to open a new law school to serve unmet regional needs. Earlier this fall was the debut of the Duncan School of Law at Lincoln Memorial University in Knoxville. Duncan, the state’s fifth law school, is geared towards working professionals, offering night and weekend classes for the 81 students who enrolled this fall. With 250 applicants this year, primarily from the southeastern United States, Duncan hopes to enroll 125 students next year.
