3 Tips for Choosing an Online Law Program

Graduate School Law School
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"In recent years, the popularity of online degrees has grown; from health care and business to science, remote degrees are widely available in almost every discipline – except law.

Traditionally, the American Bar Association limited the number of distance education credits applied toward earning a J.D. to 15. Given that law schools typically require 85-90 credits to graduate, one could not obtain a J.D. from an ABA-accredited institution entirely online.

Practically speaking, online law programs were left open to students in the few states – most notably California – whose bar associations did not require graduation from an accredited school.

Last year, however, the ABA relaxed its standards for online education. The number of online credits allowed to be taken remotely has increased to a third of the graduation requirement, including 10 in the first year of the program." …

https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/articles/2019-01-15/3-tips-for-choosing-an-online-law-program

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I suspect that online instruction will most adversely affect first year courses–all or most of which utilize the Socratic method of teaching. First year courses are arguably the most important part of one’s legal education and typically involve lively discussion among class members.

3

Best way to go to law school online? Don’t.

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The good news is that there will be more lawyers.

Another way to ensure that law schools remain as cash cows.

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The bad news is that top law jobs have been increasingly hard to get for the past ten years, at least. This is no gift. Imo, anyone who does it better have a guaranteed job prospect, like in your parents’ firm.

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Stay far, far away from any online law program.