Law Porn and Credence Goods

Victor Fleischer at Conglomerate Blog on law school branding and whether grads get what they pay for.

Goods can be broken down into three categories: (1) search goods, where quality can be assessed easily before purchase, like clothing or furniture, (2) experience goods, where quality can be assessed easily after purchase, like a haircut or a lawnmover, and (3) credence goods, where quality is difficult to assess even after purchase, like financial advice, auto repair, or, I think, a law school education.

Is law school a credence good? I think it is. At first blush, you might think that experiencing law school would quickly tell you if it's good or bad. But even after the fact, I suspect many graduates are unsure if they got what they paid for. Some feel cheated by the absence of practial coursework. I agree that we can try to do a better job of preparing our graduates for the real world (as I try to do in my Deals course). But at the same time I think law school education often delivers what it promises. All that Socratic method and legal theory improves one's ability to think critically and think like a lawyer. Or maybe it's just that our students are pretty darn smart when they come in to law school. Hard to know. Law school, in sum, is a credence good.

Branding is especially important for credence goods. Brian Leiter, who seems to find branding a little unseemly, has begun a Sextonism watch. Preposterous hyperbole may not be the best way to create a brand image. But so-called "law porn" (glossy brochures) has a utility as well. It communicates the brand image of the school to students, employers, and alums. Employers have different expectations when they interview a Chicago law grad (law and econ brand) vs. a Columbia law school grad (Wall Street brand) vs. a Yale Law School grad (squishy theory brand). This is also true in B-schools: compare Wharton (finance brand) with HBS (leadership brand) with Kellogg (branding brand). Sometimes these brand images may encourage somewhat inaccurate stereotypes, but at least they offer a frame of reference for evaluating the product. They allow consumers to understand a bit better what they are buying, what to expect during school, and what to expect afterwards.