- Utah Sen. Brady Brammer proposed a resolution that would direct Utah Valley University to study establishing a law school.
- Brammer emphasized a need for more attorneys due to Utah's population growth and other factors.
- Currently, the University of Utah and Brigham Young University offer the only American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the state
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker is trying to bring another law school to Utah's higher education system, setting his sights on the state's largest institution: Utah Valley University.
If passed, SJR8, sponsored by Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, would direct UVU to conduct a feasibility study into establishing a law school.
Currently, the University of Utah and Brigham Young University offer the only full-scale, American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the state — something that influenced Brammer's decision to propose the resolution.
"We've had the same two schools supplying approximately the same amount of attorneys, you know, since 1977. But our population has grown substantially and the need for legal work has grown substantially, and so we just need more supply," Brammer said.
He added that state budgets are constrained by different counties, municipalities and agencies struggling to hire attorneys, "especially as national firms come into Utah."
Why UVU?
But beyond just increasing the number of attorneys, Brammer said the resolution aims to "increase the supply in a way that was maybe a little different, with a different pool of applicants."
"It's not the full-time students, but maybe people that I would call second-career people. Oftentimes, it's police officers, teachers, court staff — they decide to go to school. It would be more of a night-and-weekend type law school where they're trained to do it well. But we're not competing for rankings. ... We are creating attorneys to do the work that needs to be done throughout the state.
This idea made UVU the logical choice, along with geographic positioning.
"You need to be in a place where students can get to it easily, where they're leaving their jobs and going to this school. If we put it in Logan, you lose most of the Wasatch Front ... same thing with a lot of Weber (County)," Brammer said.
The resolution calls for the study to examine establishing the school at UVU's Thanksgiving Point campus, which could further expand the university's Point of the Mountain presence.
Brammer added that UVU owns several commercial office buildings that could house the school.
"That allows us to access the Utah County economy as well as the Salt Lake County economy, so we can get as much bang for our buck as possible for people to be able to attend," Brammer said. "It also allows us to place students into the legal market, which is largely centered in Salt Lake and Utah counties."
It's also something UVU has been receptive to, Brammer said, adding they've been working together "from the very get-go."
The collaboration hasn't stopped there, either, as Brammer and the Legislature have been working with the U.'s law school, Utah's court system and the Utah State Bar — all of whom understand the need and support the effort, Brammer said.
The resolution calls for $55,000 to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether Brammer and some of his colleagues' assumptions are correct.
"Is the market demand what we believe it to be? Is the ABA (American Bar Association) accreditation process on the timeline that we believe will be beneficial? We've got to make sure it's feasible," Brammer said.
But that doesn't mean it's just for show, either, and that the Legislature or UVU leadership has its mind set on the matter.
"We're doing a feasibility study for real to make sure that it's the right decision and we can make a good policy decision based off of that," Brammer said.
