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Now America's 32nd President Is Being Tossed Into The Law School Debate

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

A prominent law school professor is now arguing that if America's 32nd president only needed two years of law school, there is absolutely no reason to have a third year now.

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As top legal scholars and New York's Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman prepare to meet on Friday to discuss the fate of third year of law school at New York schools, NYU professor Samuel Estreicher already has his mind made up.

The third year needs to go, Estreicher told The National Law Journal, arguing that if legendary American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt didn't need the third year, students now don't either.

"People have been asking for years: 'Do we really need a third year of law school?'" Estreicher told the Journal. "I'm simply proposing that we give students a choice to stay for three years or leave after two. The economic downturn is a big part of it."

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Two years was the norm when FDR was in law school.

The debate about the third year of law school has become a huge one in recent months.

St. Louis University School of Law's interim dean Tom Keefe Jr. has suggested dropping the third year of school to save students money, and Washington and Lee University School of Law has replaced its third year with clinics and outside internships.

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NYU has long proposed altering its current system and now allows students to study abroad during their third year.

Business Insider will be at the debate Friday morning to bring you all of the possible changes that will be discussed.

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