Wilkes is ready to move ahead with law school

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.comTimes Leader Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE –The board of trustees of has given the go-ahead for a new School of Law based on several contingencies.

Wilkes University’s Board of Trustees approved the proposal for a new law school on Friday and announced the decision Saturday. The approval is contingent on the university being able to raise the necessary funds without taxing the university’s other schools, programs or priorities. School officials peg the cost at about $35 million. The board would have to evaluate a final proposal before giving the final green light to what would be Northeast Pennsylvania’s first law school.

The next step is for the university to identify the financial resources necessary to operate the school and acquire a building. The project will also be subject to periodic reviews by the board of trustees to ensure the implementation is on track.

Tim Gilmour, Wilkes president, said he hopes to seat the inaugural class of 60 full-time students and 25 part-time students in 2011.

“Creating a law school for Northeastern Pennsylvania is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will have a significant impact on Wilkes University and the surrounding communities by increasing graduate level educational opportunities, creating jobs, and speeding the region’s economic recovery,” Gilmour said.

Once fully operational, the school could enroll 275 to 300 full-time students and 80 to 100 part-time students. An economic impact study completed by the Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development estimates the new school will generate as much as $18 million annually to the regional economy and will produce annual tax revenues of $500,000.

The school will also serve the community in a variety of ways, according to a release issued by the university. Among them: Legal services will be provided to the needy through free clinics, the region’s legal profession will benefit from the presence of a law school, and area lawyers will have convenient access to mandated continuing education programs.

The man that has overseen the feasibility study and law school initiative the past year, Loren D. “Chip” Prescott Jr., believes the school’s curriculum will allow full-time students to complete their coursework in three years and part-time students in four years. Significant efforts will be made to admit qualified students from Northeastern Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities, he added.

“I am confident the law school we create will attract the region’s best and brightest students who will graduate ready to practice law and then settle in the region to help their communities grow stronger,” said Prescott.

The Wilkes Law School Planning Initiative began in 2004 and has picked up steam the past year. The goal was to get the school up and running in 2010 but several factors, including the economy, delayed the goal by one year.

The school would join two other first-of-their-kind colleges for Northeast Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Medical College is slated to open next fall in Scranton with satellite campuses in Williamsport and Wilkes-Barre. Marywood University is planning to open a School of Architecture at its Scranton campus.