JDs Rising has a post on English majors and their engagement with literature and how that effects/impacts their possible success as attorneys.
The article supports the move, saying English literature is good preparation for a JD.
I would think that a rhetoric degree would be even more effective, but that could be my own prejudices showing.
However, just like there are too many PhDs in English, there are also a lot of surplus JDs in the US. Unless a student goes to a good school (UT in Texas; Harvard in the NE) and has good grades, they are just as unlikely to find work in the legal field as they are to find it in academics.
It’s not just me who thinks this either.