The US university is tapping into talent demand in the family office space.

The Indiana University Maurer School of Law has launched a program that trains students interested in working for family offices and firms with family office service practices, it announced recently.

The law school said that it will be the first in the US with a program focused specifically on this area of wealth management.

"The number of family offices in the US is increasing at a dramatic rate," Austen Parrish, Maurer School dean and the James H Rudy professor of law, said.

The move is part of a trend around the world of creating new programs aimed at training and nurturing wealth management professionals. In the US alone, there is frequent talk of how the average age of wealth advisors is around 55 and rising, creating a talent crunch. The stakes are high: an estimated $30 trillion of wealth is due to change hands in coming years as the Baby Boomer generation passes on. (To see a list of post-grad and MBA-like programs, click here.)

"They are capable of conducting sophisticated transactions that were traditionally the province of big companies or private equity firms, and they also provide a complete range of traditional estate planning, real estate, tax planning and wealth advising services," Parrish said.

The law school plans to admit about five students with high credentials to the new program beginning in the fall of 2020. Qualified candidates will either have experience in the business or investment field or an interest in earning a JD/MBA. Students admitted to the program will receive the following: A scholarship equal to at least 50 per cent of tuition fees, up to full-tuition scholarships; a mentor from the program's advisory council; a second-year research assistantship with the school's business or tax law faculty; and a third-year clinical position with one of the school's business-related clinics.

Parrish said that US family offices are estimated to hold assets exceeding $4 trillion, and a significant number of the most prestigious law firms have established family office practices.

"By capitalizing on this trend, the Maurer School of Law will help meet the growing demand for lawyers by offering a wide range of courses, placements and mentoring experiences," he said.

Alumnus Michael Flannery, a member of the law school's Board of Visitors and CEO of Duchossois Capital Management, a family investment firm in Chicago, will serve as a member of an advisory council for the program.

"There is enormous demand for sophisticated legal talent in family offices and firms serving those offices," Flannery said.

Professor Brian Broughman, an expert on corporate law, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions, will serve as director of the program. He will be supported by professor Mark Need, who oversees the Elmore Entrepreneurship Clinic and the school's JD/MBA program. The school is in the process of naming affiliated faculty to design and teach family office-related courses. An advisory council will also be appointed to support the school and serve as mentors to students.