deb ballam wrote:
>
> I agree with Jordan that the quotations will be dismissed as anecdotal.  I
> also agree that we need empirical evidence.  However, if we ourselves
> undertake such a study (and several of our members have done excellent
> studies--right now I can think of George Siedel's study that he presented
> in St. Louis and a study that Elliot Klayman published a number of years
> ago), it will be dismissed as biased.  I personally think our profession is
> in a state of deep crisis and if we don't take serious action soon, we will
> cease to exist.
>
> I would like to propose that the national association, the regionals, and
> our members as individuals contribute to a fund that we could use to hire
> an outside consulting firm to do a survey of business executives not just
> on the law subjects they think are important, but on the importance of law
> for the practice of business, and on the importance of business
> practitioners themselves having basic legal knowledge.  We could submit the
> resulting report to every business school dean and to the AACSB.  We could
> use this report not only for defensive purposes, but to go on the offense.
>
> I am curious about what others think of this proposal.
>
> Deb Ballam
Dear Deb,
As a member of the North Eastern Region, I think that this is a good
idea; however, I don't think our region has very much money that we
could contribute. There may be other ways to raise the funds.  Perhaps
from individuals.  How much would this kind of a study cost?  Copies of
the results should go to Chairs of Business Departments or Divisions as
well as Business Schools.
Diana Juettner
Mercy College
Dobbs Ferry, NY