For years, changes in the number of LSAT takers have reliably foreshadowed changes in the number of law-school applicants and applications. The number of applicants to law school has fallen nearly 40% since 2010, and since 2010 the number of LSATs administered has fallen in rough proportion.

So many of us were surprised when the June 2017 administration of the LSAT, traditionally the kickoff to the application season, attracted about 20% more test-takers than last year; registrations for the September administration are similarly up 12% over last year. No obvious explanation presented itself: Conventional wisdom (which still appears to be basically right) dictated that applications had fallen because potential applicants had eventually appreciated in greater and greater numbers that the market for entry-level law jobs had shrunk consistently and substantially since its high-water mark in 2007. Rationally, they stayed away in droves. The number of law jobs obtained by the class of 2016 within 10 months after graduation was flat (actually, slightly lower) again this year. (The proportion of the class that got law jobs was up slightly, simply because the number of graduates is falling in direct proportion to the falling number of students who started law school three or four years before. With fewer graduates fishing for the same number of jobs, a slightly greater proportion of them managed to hook one. Of course, these improved chances will continue only so long as law-school census stays low.)

A recent survey of LSAT takers (see also here) suggests at least a partial explanation: Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said that Donald Trump’s presidency was the single most important reason they were considering law school. Over half (52%) said that Trump’s presidency and recent events such as the Charlottesville protests had moderately or strongly influenced their decision to apply to law school as well as the type of law they intended to practice.

Wow. Some thoughts about this development after the jump: