Several
years
ago,
I
wrote
an
article
arguing
that
law
schools
should
have
more
adjunct
professors
so
that
law
students
can
learn
legal
subjects
from
professors
who
actively
practice
law.
As
a
law
student,
I
had
excellent
adjunct
professors,
and
law
schools
might
even
save
money
if
they
rely
more
on
part-time
professors
rather
than
hire
additional
full-time
educators.
Recently,
I
was
speaking
with
a
colleague
about
our
favorite
law
school
professors,
and
this
colleague
conveyed
that
adjunct
professors
often
had
significant
limitations.
This
reminded
me
of
my
own
experiences
with
law
school
adjunct
professors,
and
law
schools
likely
cannot
rely
intensely
on
adjuncts
in
order
to
fill
their
professor
ranks.
Nearly
all
of
the
adjunct
professors
I
know
have
full-time
jobs
elsewhere.
It
is
well-known
that
adjunct
professors
earn
low
compensation
from
their
teaching,
and
most
of
their
income
comes
from
their
full-time
jobs.
As
a
result,
adjunct
professors
often
do
not
prioritize
teaching
over
other
career
obligations.
This
is
especially
true
when
an
adjunct
professor
runs
into
conflicts
that
make
it
difficult
to
complete
tasks
associated
with
being
an
adjunct
and
a
practicing
lawyer
at
the
same
time.
For
instance,
while
I
was
in
law
school,
I
had
an
adjunct
professor
who
was
a
partner
at
a
top
law
firm.
During
the
class,
the
adjunct
professor
told
us
that
he
had
to
begin
a
trial
and
that
his
attention
would
be
focused
more
on
the
trial
until
the
matter
resolved.
During
that
time,
the
professor
was
much
harder
to
reach,
and
a
few
times,
classes
needed
to
be
rescheduled
to
accommodate
his
trial
schedule.
The
case
eventually
resolved,
and
the
adjunct
was
much
more
present
thereafter,
but
our
learning
experience
was
impacted
for
weeks
while
he
juggled
his
responsibilities
as
trial
counsel
with
his
responsibilities
as
an
adjunct
professor.
Adjunct
professors
might
also
be
more
difficult
to
reach
for
office
hours
or
other
outside-the-classroom
reasons.
This
might
be
due
to
the
fact
that
adjunct
professors
do
not
always
have
offices
on
campus
like
other
professors
and
may
not
be
required
to
keep
regular
office
hours
as
is
often
the
policy
of
full-time
professors.
Adjunct
law
professors
might
also
simply
just
have
less
free
time
to
interact
with
students
since
they
need
to
handle
work
responsibilities
as
well
as
teaching
duties.
When
I
was
a
law
student,
one
of
my
favorite
adjunct
professors
lived
in
a
different
city
and
commuted
once
a
week
to
the
law
school
to
teach
our
class.
The
professor
did
a
great
job
teaching,
but
due
to
the
distance
the
professor
traveled
to
get
to
class,
I
rarely
interacted
with
this
professor
outside
of
class
as
I
commonly
did
with
full-time
professors.
When
law
students
do
not
have
the
ability
to
interact
with
professors
outside
of
the
classroom,
it
is
more
difficult
to
seek
out
letters
of
recommendation,
career
advice,
or
leads
on
job
opportunities.
Don’t
get
me
wrong,
I
also
had
adjunct
professors
that
did
such
a
good
job
you
would
never
believe
they
had
a
full-time
job
outside
of
teaching.
For
instance,
I
had
one
adjunct
law
professor
who
spent
as
much
time
as
possible
on
campus,
responded
to
student
inquiries
in
a
timely
fashion,
and
graded
final
exams
before
even
my
full-time
professors
had
the
chance
to
upload
their
grades.
However,
adjunct
professors
might
not
be
able
to
provide
the
same
level
of
attention
as
full-time
professors
can.
As
a
result,
law
schools
need
to
have
a
balanced
roster
and
vet
adjunct
professors
to
ensure
that
they
have
the
least
chance
possible
of
letting
their
full-time
pursuits
interfere
with
their
teaching
duties.
Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of
The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of
Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at
[email protected].