Law school is expensive. Very expensive. In fact, the only way most people can justify the cost is by anticipating the six figures they'll make immediately upon graduation, provided they take the corporate route. Meanwhile, the vast need for public service lawyers is left unmet. How can a middling, $40,000 salary job compete with the mega multi-national firms?

Maybe by easing the financial burden on law students, proposes Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan: The HLS announced on March 18th that it will waive the tuition for any third-year law student who commits to a five-year stint in public service following graduation.

While saving $41,500 might not sound very impressive when you consider the loss in potential income by NOT going the corporate route (in New York, corporate firms are currently offering a standard $160,000/year to first-year associates), the Harvard proposal might still work.

Why? Because a lot of people apply to law school because they don't know what else to do, or because they want to do some good for the world. The corporate firms attract them simply because of the massive debt they'll have incurred.

Everyone I know who either went to law school or is currently in law school (the number grows every year) says they don't intend to practice corporate law any longer than it takes them to pay off their loans. At that point, they have all kinds of goals -- including public service.

So maybe Harvard's offer will make it a little easier for some of its graduates to say no thanks when big-money recruiters start sending gifts and inviting them to $300 dinners.

And maybe other schools will follow Harvard's lead, and the public service sector will get a much-needed influx of talented young JDs.