Online law school
Encyclopedia
A correspondence law school is a school that offers legal education by distance education
, either by correspondence or online by use of the internet, or a combination thereof.
is available through FernUniversität Hagen
, a public university similar to the British Open University. The graduates receive LLB or LLM
degrees. Specialized LLB degrees in business law are available through five universities of applied sciences
: Hamburger Fernhochschule, Fachhochschule Nordhessen, Europäische Fernhochschule Hamburg, Fachhochschule Südwestfalen, and Hochschule Niederrhein. However, none of these degrees is accepted as a qualifying law degree. Therefore, its graduates cannot sit for the Staatsexamen
, the German equivalent of bar exams.
, and is available through the University of South Africa (UNISA)
.
and is accepted by the Law Society
of England
and Wales
as a qualifying law degree and one of the possible ways to become a solicitor
or a barrister
. Several institutions offer basic legal education (leading to the LLB
degree), the oldest of which is the University of London External System. Numerous universities in the UK offer LLB degrees through distance education today, including the Open University
.
In several other countries influenced by the British legal heritage, legal education can be obtained through distance education, including South Africa (through UNISA) and Australia
.
was founded in Chicago by Jesse Grant Chapline
. It operated until 1982. Those schools and others (including American Correspondence School of Law of Chicago; Columbian Correspondence College of Law in Washington D.C.; New York Correspondence School of Law in New York; and others) were innovative for the time in providing many poor, working-class, women, and ethnic minorities educational opportunities. Among the La Salle Extension University graduates who went on to make contributions in law and politics are governors Harold J. Arthur
and Eurith D. Rivers
, Senator Craig L. Thomas, U.S. Representatives John S. Gibson
and William T. Granahan
, and African-American leaders Arthur Fletcher
, Jessie M. Rattley
, and Gertrude Rush
.
Northwestern California University School of Law is the oldest existing correspondence law school in the United States. It was founded in 1982 and began presenting its correspondence program entirely online in 2002. It is the first online law school to offer Internet based and faculty led videoconferencing sessions for students for some courses.
In 1996, Abraham Lincoln University
began a hybrid in-class and correspondence approach to law school, designed to offer scheduling flexibility to students, before adding an online component in 2004. [ not in citation given]
The first law school to offer a degree program completely online was Concord Law School
, a unit of Kaplan, Inc., which started in 1998 and is the largest of the seven distance learning law schools. Concord graduated its first class in November 2002.
The California School of Law, founded in 2007, is the first law school to utilize synchronous technology in all courses. Such technology provides direct communication between professors and students in live, “real time” virtual classrooms. See the §§ below entitled "Use of Socratic Method" & "Synchronous & Asynchronous Online Technologies."
. The State Bar of California
is currently the only state authority that "registers" and regulates distance learning law schools.
Graduates of correspondence and distance learning schools registered with the State Bar of California can sit for the California bar exam. The other states have varying rules for graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools registered with the California State Bar. See § below, "Accreditation and Acceptance of Credentials."
Asterisks (*) indicate the school is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council
.
method. Law schools using online technology are able to teach by this method through use of the Internet in live audio sessions. In this teaching method, students are assigned case opinions and statutes to read and brief before each class session. This pre-class preparation is followed by in-class (and on-line) presentations by the students. Law schools use the Socratic Method to teach students how to analyze and make legal arguments, how to properly read and brief cases and how to prepare for the pressures and rigors of a legal practice.
process involves students being rigorously questioned by the professors, with follow-up questions. It is believed that such pedagogy helps prepare the students for the rigors of law practice, as well as teaching them how to engage in the type of analysis necessary to perform well on state bar attorney licensing exams such as the California State Bar's baby bar and Bar exams.
Utilization of the Socratic Method
pedagogy by online law schools in the traditional “interactive” direct question and answer format occurs through audio broadcast over the Internet of live sessions with professors calling on students and receiving immediate responses. There are two types of available technologies for online legal education, synchronous and asynchronous.
"Asynchronous technology” is a mode of online delivery in which the professors and students are not together at the same time and in which students receive course materials and access recorded lectures on their own schedule. Message board forums, e-mail exchanges,text messaging and recorded video are examples of asynchronous technology. This method of instruction has the advantage that the students need not be committed to be present for classes at set days and hours.
At one online law school using asynchronous technology, students may pose questions to the professors by text messaging or email, which the professors usually answer by text messaging or email within 48 hours. Also at this school, during their lectures professors may pose questions to the students, which the students answer by text messaging or emails.
“Synchronous technology” is a mode of online delivery where all participants are "present" and engaging simultaneously with each other at the same time. Web conferencing is an example of synchronous technology. This method of instruction has the advantage for online law schools that there is immediate “give and take” interaction in the questioning, answering, discussions and debates by and between the students and professors.
At one online law school using synchronous technology, students and professors “sign in” on the internet to a secure “virtual classroom” and engage in immediate give and take oral discussion and debate of the law, utilizing the Socratic Method
in the classic way.
Correspondence and distance learning law schools are not accredited by the American Bar Association
(ABA) or state bar examiners, even if they are registered with the California State Bar or licensed to confer academic degrees by relevant state education departments. Graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools that are registered with the State Bar of California can sit for the California bar exam. The other states have varying rules for graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools registered with the California State Bar: (a) a few states allow such graduates to immediately sit for the bar exams after graduation; (b) some states allow such graduates to sit for the bar exam immediately after passing the California Bar Exam; (c) several states allow graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools to sit for the bar exams after passing the California Bar Exam and then gaining experience as an attorney: and (d) some states do not allow such graduates to ever sit for their bar exams.
Proponents of such exclusions argue that without ABA accreditation, there is no effective way to check that a law school meets minimum academic standards and that its graduates are prepared to become attorneys. The ABA stated in a 2003 policy document, "Neither private study, correspondence study or law office training, nor age or experience should be substituted for law-school education."
Concord Law School
Dean Barry Currier maintains optimism regarding the acceptance of online law school degrees, saying that "once people see what we do over time, the degrees will be accepted." William Hunt, Dean of The California School of Law has noted that online schools have the ability to utilize the Socratic Method
pedagogy as it is used at traditional law schools. Others have noted that the ABA's position on online and correspondence law schools is motivated more by a desire to exercise monopoly power and to protect traditional law schools' exclusivity. Law professor Michael Froomkin made a similar point,"The losers in the new era of legal education will be second- and third-tier institutions that lack name recognition and its concomitant prestige, and their faculties ... They will either have to become discount law schools, or go online themselves."
Graduates of California online schools have commenced legal actions in order to sit for the bar exam in their home states. Mel Thompson, a 2005 graduate of the West Coast School of Law, attempted to sue the ABA and the Connecticut
Bar Examining Committee, alleging that Connecticut's refusal to let him sit for the bar exam violated due process
, equal protection, and served as an "arbitrary" and unlawful restraint on trade. Thompson's grievance did not succeed and in 2007 his suit was dismissed. In 2007 Ross Mitchell, a 2004 graduate of Concord Law School, filed suit against the Massachusetts
Board of Bar Examiners. Mitchell's suit was more successful than Thompson's; in 2008 the state’s Supreme Judicial Court granted Mitchell permission to take the Massachusetts bar exam. In 2009 Mitchell passed the bar and became the first online law school graduate sworn into the state bar of Massachusetts.
s and schools which engage in fraudulent practices. In 1994, the St. Petersburg (Florida)
Times published information about a Rev. James Kirk who opened a diploma mill calling it LaSalle University in Slidell, Louisiana
, which, while being investigated by Louisiana authorities, "contend[ed] it [was] exempt from licensing because even though it offers degrees in engineering and law, it is a religious institution." In response to the historically low bar passage rate of students graduating from unaccredited law schools, including correspondence/online schools, the California State Legislature
passed legislation in 2007 transferring oversight authority of unaccredited law schools from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, which also oversees non-law education, to the State Bar.
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
, either by correspondence or online by use of the internet, or a combination thereof.
Germany
Distance legal education in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
is available through FernUniversität Hagen
FernUniversität Hagen
The University of Hagen, is the largest and the only state-run distance teaching university in Germany. The Headquarters are located in Hagen, Germany....
, a public university similar to the British Open University. The graduates receive LLB or LLM
Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
degrees. Specialized LLB degrees in business law are available through five universities of applied sciences
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
: Hamburger Fernhochschule, Fachhochschule Nordhessen, Europäische Fernhochschule Hamburg, Fachhochschule Südwestfalen, and Hochschule Niederrhein. However, none of these degrees is accepted as a qualifying law degree. Therefore, its graduates cannot sit for the Staatsexamen
Staatsexamen
The ' is a German government licensing examination that future doctors, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists and jurists have to pass to be allowed to work in their profession. The examination is generally organized by government examination agencies which are under the authority of the...
, the German equivalent of bar exams.
South Africa
Distance legal education is an acceptable method to become a lawyer in South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and is available through the University of South Africa (UNISA)
University of South Africa
The University of South Africa is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities.-History:...
.
United Kingdom
Distance legal education is rich in tradition in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and is accepted by the Law Society
Law society
A Law Society in current and former Commonwealth jurisdictions was historically an association of solicitors with a regulatory role that included the right to supervise the training, qualifications and conduct of lawyers/solicitors...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
as a qualifying law degree and one of the possible ways to become a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
or a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. Several institutions offer basic legal education (leading to the LLB
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degree), the oldest of which is the University of London External System. Numerous universities in the UK offer LLB degrees through distance education today, including the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
.
In several other countries influenced by the British legal heritage, legal education can be obtained through distance education, including South Africa (through UNISA) and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
History
Law school study by correspondence has existed in the United States since 1890 when Sprague Correspondence School of Law (which eventually merged with Blackstone Institute, and later was known as Blackstone School of Law) was established by William C. Sprague in Detroit, Michigan. Among the school’s early graduates was Antoinette D. Leach, early Sprague Law Correspondence Law School graduate and first woman attorney in Indiana, who in 1893 became the first woman admitted by the Indiana Supreme Court to practice law in Indiana. Later, in 1908, La Salle Extension UniversityLa Salle Extension University
La Salle Extension University , also styled as LaSalle Extension University, was a nationally accredited private university based in Chicago, Illinois. Although the school offered resident educational programs in classes and seminars their primary mode of delivery was by way of distance learning...
was founded in Chicago by Jesse Grant Chapline
Jesse Grant Chapline
Jesse Grant Chapline was an American educator and politician who founded distance learning facility La Salle Extension University in Chicago.-Life and career:...
. It operated until 1982. Those schools and others (including American Correspondence School of Law of Chicago; Columbian Correspondence College of Law in Washington D.C.; New York Correspondence School of Law in New York; and others) were innovative for the time in providing many poor, working-class, women, and ethnic minorities educational opportunities. Among the La Salle Extension University graduates who went on to make contributions in law and politics are governors Harold J. Arthur
Harold J. Arthur
Harold John Arthur was the 68th Governor of Vermont from 1950 to 1951. He also served as the 62nd Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1949 to 1950....
and Eurith D. Rivers
Eurith D. Rivers
Eurith Dickenson Rivers was an American politician from Lanier County, Georgia. He was the 68th Governor of Georgia from 1937 to 1941.-Life and career:Rivers obtained a degree through La Salle Extension University...
, Senator Craig L. Thomas, U.S. Representatives John S. Gibson
John S. Gibson
John Strickland Gibson was a U.S. Representative from Georgia.Born near Folkston, Georgia, Gibson attended the common schools....
and William T. Granahan
William T. Granahan
William T. Granahan was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, most prominently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1945–47 and 1949-56.-Biography:...
, and African-American leaders Arthur Fletcher
Arthur Fletcher
Arthur Fletcher was an American government official, widely referred to as the "father of affirmative action" as he was largely responsible for the Revised Philadelphia Plan....
, Jessie M. Rattley
Jessie M. Rattley
Jessie Menifield Rattley served as the mayor of Newport News, Virginia from 1986 to 1990.-Life and career:Rattley obtained a degree from distance learning school La Salle Extension University. She was the first African-American to be elected to the Newport News City Council in 1970...
, and Gertrude Rush
Gertrude Rush
Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush was the first African-American female lawyer in Iowa, admitted to the Iowa bar in 1918. She helped found the National Bar Association in 1925.- Life and career :...
.
Northwestern California University School of Law is the oldest existing correspondence law school in the United States. It was founded in 1982 and began presenting its correspondence program entirely online in 2002. It is the first online law school to offer Internet based and faculty led videoconferencing sessions for students for some courses.
In 1996, Abraham Lincoln University
Abraham Lincoln University
Abraham Lincoln University School of Law is an educational institution specializing in legal education. The school is located in downtown Los Angeles where local students may attend live classes week-nights and on Saturdays. Students may attend classes through on campus live lectures, live...
began a hybrid in-class and correspondence approach to law school, designed to offer scheduling flexibility to students, before adding an online component in 2004. [ not in citation given]
The first law school to offer a degree program completely online was Concord Law School
Concord Law School
Concord Law School , is an online law school based in Los Angeles, California. It is currently known as Concord Law School of Kaplan University. The school is a subsidiary of the Kaplan Higher Education Corporation...
, a unit of Kaplan, Inc., which started in 1998 and is the largest of the seven distance learning law schools. Concord graduated its first class in November 2002.
The California School of Law, founded in 2007, is the first law school to utilize synchronous technology in all courses. Such technology provides direct communication between professors and students in live, “real time” virtual classrooms. See the §§ below entitled "Use of Socratic Method" & "Synchronous & Asynchronous Online Technologies."
California Correspondence and Online Legal Education
Unlike other distance learning education institutions in the United States, law schools form a distinct subset of graduate institutions because of the unique requirements necessary to become a lawyerAdmission to the bar in the United States
In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
. The State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
is currently the only state authority that "registers" and regulates distance learning law schools.
Graduates of correspondence and distance learning schools registered with the State Bar of California can sit for the California bar exam. The other states have varying rules for graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools registered with the California State Bar. See § below, "Accreditation and Acceptance of Credentials."
California State Bar Law School Registration
Distance legal education in California is made up of "correspondence" and "distance learning" or Online law schools. The California State Bar website defines two classes of such schools:- "correspondence law schools"; which "conduct instruction primarily by correspondence". The law schools presently registered with the California State Bar as "Correspondence" law schools that "conduct instruction primarily by correspondence"are:
- California Southern UniversityCalifornia Southern UniversityCalifornia Southern University is a private American university that began its operations in 1978. The University offers associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs in business, psychology, criminal justice, and law...
* (Irvine) - International Pacific School of Law (Los Angeles)
- MD Kirk School of Law (Los Angeles)
- Northwestern California University School of Law (Sacramento)
- Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy (Fresno)
- Taft Law SchoolTaft Law SchoolThe Taft Law School is a distance education, online-based law school based in Santa Ana, California. Taft Law School and William Howard Taft University comprise The Taft University System. The State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners has registered Taft Law School as an unaccredited...
* (Santa Ana) - University of Honolulu School of Law (Modesto)
- "distance learning [or Online] schools"; which "conduct instruction and provide interactive classes primarily by technological means." The law schools presently registered with the California State Bar as those that "conduct instruction and provide interactive classes primarily by technological means" are:
- Abraham Lincoln University School of LawAbraham Lincoln UniversityAbraham Lincoln University School of Law is an educational institution specializing in legal education. The school is located in downtown Los Angeles where local students may attend live classes week-nights and on Saturdays. Students may attend classes through on campus live lectures, live...
* (Los Angeles) - American Heritage University of Southern CaliforniaAmerican Heritage University of Southern CaliforniaAmerican Heritage University of Southern California is a higher education institution based in Southern California.American Heritage University states that it was founded in 2003 and is incorporated in the State of California under the name Heritage University.-Programs:Its student pool consists...
(San Bernardino) - American Institute of Law (Irvine)
- California Midland School of Law (formerly Aristotle University Institute of Law) (Carlsbad)
- California School of Law (Santa Barbara)
- Concord Law SchoolConcord Law SchoolConcord Law School , is an online law school based in Los Angeles, California. It is currently known as Concord Law School of Kaplan University. The school is a subsidiary of the Kaplan Higher Education Corporation...
* of Kaplan UniversityKaplan UniversityKaplan University is the "doing business as" name of the Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, a company that owns and operates for-profit colleges...
(Los Angeles) - St. Francis School of LawSt. Francis School of LawThe St. Francis School of Law is an online school based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is registered with the State Bar of California and upon completing its online law degree program and passing the "Baby Bar" administered by the State Bar of California, students are issued a JD . St. Francis...
(Menlo Park)
Asterisks (*) indicate the school is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council
Distance Education and Training Council
The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...
.
Use of Socratic Method
Traditional law schools in the United States teach by the question and answer Socratic or casebookCasebook
A casebook is a type of textbook used primarily by students in law schools. Rather than simply laying out the legal doctrine in a particular area of study, a casebook contains excerpts from legal cases in which the law of that area was applied. It is then up to the student to analyze the language...
method. Law schools using online technology are able to teach by this method through use of the Internet in live audio sessions. In this teaching method, students are assigned case opinions and statutes to read and brief before each class session. This pre-class preparation is followed by in-class (and on-line) presentations by the students. Law schools use the Socratic Method to teach students how to analyze and make legal arguments, how to properly read and brief cases and how to prepare for the pressures and rigors of a legal practice.
Synchronous & Asynchronous Online Technologies
It is generally accepted that a crucial part of the Socratic MethodSocratic method
The Socratic method , named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas...
process involves students being rigorously questioned by the professors, with follow-up questions. It is believed that such pedagogy helps prepare the students for the rigors of law practice, as well as teaching them how to engage in the type of analysis necessary to perform well on state bar attorney licensing exams such as the California State Bar's baby bar and Bar exams.
Utilization of the Socratic Method
Socratic method
The Socratic method , named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas...
pedagogy by online law schools in the traditional “interactive” direct question and answer format occurs through audio broadcast over the Internet of live sessions with professors calling on students and receiving immediate responses. There are two types of available technologies for online legal education, synchronous and asynchronous.
"Asynchronous technology” is a mode of online delivery in which the professors and students are not together at the same time and in which students receive course materials and access recorded lectures on their own schedule. Message board forums, e-mail exchanges,text messaging and recorded video are examples of asynchronous technology. This method of instruction has the advantage that the students need not be committed to be present for classes at set days and hours.
At one online law school using asynchronous technology, students may pose questions to the professors by text messaging or email, which the professors usually answer by text messaging or email within 48 hours. Also at this school, during their lectures professors may pose questions to the students, which the students answer by text messaging or emails.
“Synchronous technology” is a mode of online delivery where all participants are "present" and engaging simultaneously with each other at the same time. Web conferencing is an example of synchronous technology. This method of instruction has the advantage for online law schools that there is immediate “give and take” interaction in the questioning, answering, discussions and debates by and between the students and professors.
At one online law school using synchronous technology, students and professors “sign in” on the internet to a secure “virtual classroom” and engage in immediate give and take oral discussion and debate of the law, utilizing the Socratic Method
Socratic method
The Socratic method , named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas...
in the classic way.
Accreditation and acceptance of credentials
Observers have noted the attraction of distance learning law schools to students, such as flexible class schedules, lower tuition, and the lack of geographical limitations. Others, however, have noted that graduates of online law schools face some disadvantages, including (initial) ineligibility in some states to take the bar exam outside of California.Correspondence and distance learning law schools are not accredited by the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
(ABA) or state bar examiners, even if they are registered with the California State Bar or licensed to confer academic degrees by relevant state education departments. Graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools that are registered with the State Bar of California can sit for the California bar exam. The other states have varying rules for graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools registered with the California State Bar: (a) a few states allow such graduates to immediately sit for the bar exams after graduation; (b) some states allow such graduates to sit for the bar exam immediately after passing the California Bar Exam; (c) several states allow graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools to sit for the bar exams after passing the California Bar Exam and then gaining experience as an attorney: and (d) some states do not allow such graduates to ever sit for their bar exams.
Proponents of such exclusions argue that without ABA accreditation, there is no effective way to check that a law school meets minimum academic standards and that its graduates are prepared to become attorneys. The ABA stated in a 2003 policy document, "Neither private study, correspondence study or law office training, nor age or experience should be substituted for law-school education."
Concord Law School
Concord Law School
Concord Law School , is an online law school based in Los Angeles, California. It is currently known as Concord Law School of Kaplan University. The school is a subsidiary of the Kaplan Higher Education Corporation...
Dean Barry Currier maintains optimism regarding the acceptance of online law school degrees, saying that "once people see what we do over time, the degrees will be accepted." William Hunt, Dean of The California School of Law has noted that online schools have the ability to utilize the Socratic Method
Socratic method
The Socratic method , named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas...
pedagogy as it is used at traditional law schools. Others have noted that the ABA's position on online and correspondence law schools is motivated more by a desire to exercise monopoly power and to protect traditional law schools' exclusivity. Law professor Michael Froomkin made a similar point,"The losers in the new era of legal education will be second- and third-tier institutions that lack name recognition and its concomitant prestige, and their faculties ... They will either have to become discount law schools, or go online themselves."
Graduates of California online schools have commenced legal actions in order to sit for the bar exam in their home states. Mel Thompson, a 2005 graduate of the West Coast School of Law, attempted to sue the ABA and the Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
Bar Examining Committee, alleging that Connecticut's refusal to let him sit for the bar exam violated due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
, equal protection, and served as an "arbitrary" and unlawful restraint on trade. Thompson's grievance did not succeed and in 2007 his suit was dismissed. In 2007 Ross Mitchell, a 2004 graduate of Concord Law School, filed suit against the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Board of Bar Examiners. Mitchell's suit was more successful than Thompson's; in 2008 the state’s Supreme Judicial Court granted Mitchell permission to take the Massachusetts bar exam. In 2009 Mitchell passed the bar and became the first online law school graduate sworn into the state bar of Massachusetts.
California Bar Examination statistics
Statistics for the California Bar Examation and First-Year Law Students' Examination ("Baby Bar"), including those for correspondence law schools and distance learning law schools, are provided by the California State Bar.Consumer (student) protection
A concern in US distance education is the existence of diploma millDiploma mill
A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit...
s and schools which engage in fraudulent practices. In 1994, the St. Petersburg (Florida)
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
Times published information about a Rev. James Kirk who opened a diploma mill calling it LaSalle University in Slidell, Louisiana
Slidell, Louisiana
Slidell is a city situated on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 25,695 at the 2000 census. The Greater Slidell Community has a population of about 90,000...
, which, while being investigated by Louisiana authorities, "contend[ed] it [was] exempt from licensing because even though it offers degrees in engineering and law, it is a religious institution." In response to the historically low bar passage rate of students graduating from unaccredited law schools, including correspondence/online schools, the California State Legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
passed legislation in 2007 transferring oversight authority of unaccredited law schools from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, which also oversees non-law education, to the State Bar.
Further reading
- Robert J. Salzer, "Comment: Juris Doctor.com: Are Full-Time Internet Law Schools the Beginning of the End For Traditional Legal Education?" 12 CommLaw Conspectus 101 (2004)
- Nick Dranias, "Past the Pall of Orthodoxy: Why the First Amendment Virtually Guarantees Online Law School Graduates Will Breach the ABA Accreditation Barrier," 111 Penn St. L. Rev. 863 (2007)
- Steve Sheppard, "Casebooks, Commentaries, and Curmudgeons: An Introductory History of Law in the Lecture Hall," 82 Iowa L. Rev. 547 (1997) (on the Socratic method)
- Bruce A. Kimball, "The Proliferation of Case Method Teaching in American Law Schools: Mr. Langdell's Emblematic 'Abomination,' 1890-1915," History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 2, p. 192, Jun. 2006 (on the casebook and Socratic methods)
- Daniel C. Powell, "Five Recommendations to Law Schools Offering Legal Instruction over the Internet" 11 J. Tech. L. & Pol'y 285 (2006).
- Robert E. Oliphant, "Will Internet Driven Concord University Law School Revolutionize Traditional Law School Teaching?" 27 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 841 (2000)
- Stephen M. Johnson, "www.lawschool.edu: Legal Education in the Digital Age" 2000 Wis. L. Rev. 85 (2000).