Online Law Degrees: Are they really worth it?

By: Peter J. Loughlin
Submitted: 2007-06-04 20:07:58
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Years ago earning a law degree meant putting your life on hold, moving away from home and family for several years to attend law school full time. Finally, evening and weekend classes, a new concept in legal education, came along to help law students cope with inflexible schedules. Now the evolution in legal education has generated a whole new concept-online law degrees.

Online law courses have been growing in popularity in American Bar Association (ABA) approved law schools, but they have yet to fully embrace the online law degree earned completely through distance learning. Still, online law degrees are recognized in some states as being fully accredited-or at least recognized for purposes of entering the legal profession. Generally, the same coursework completed in the classroom is required of distance-learning law students and with today's technology the experience can be more effective than sitting in a brick and mortar law school.

Alternative to Traditional Law School
Naturally many new (and some older) law schools have seen the writing on the wall and have launched their own online law programs. So long as standards of quality education are maintained I see no reason for opposition. While there is no doubt that ABA approved law schools provide an outstanding level of excellence in legal education, they're just not a good fit for many of today's prospective lawyers. If a high quality online law degree can be earned on the Internet, what's the problem? I've always felt that learning takes place between two ears rather than four walls, am I right?

The online law degree provides a viable alternative to traditional ABA law schools in preparing one for a career as a lawyer. Quite simply it may be the best or only solution for students who cannot commit themselves to study at a traditional law school. With an online law degree option they can keep their current job, maintain family obligations and save countless wasted hours commuting to and from a traditional law school campus.

California Connection
Online law degrees are more common in California, a state where more than 25% of practicing attorneys graduated from non-ABA law schools. As online law degrees grow in popularity, this number is likely to increase and spread to other states. Although distance-learning law degrees are nothing new, online law schools are now attracting a huge number of students from diverse backgrounds whose family and/or work obligations make online study the right choice for them.

Critics of online law degrees say Internet based courses cannot replicate the classroom experience and that some online law schools are designed to merely prepare students to pass the bar without giving them a full legal education. In my opinion the purpose of the bar exam is (or should be) to weed out those law students who have not benefited from a broad-based legal education or are incapable of demonstrating it. Students who have not received a broad-based legal curriculum are unlikely to pass a bar exam anyway. And, there are graduates from top law schools that have been unable to pass a bar exam-while some graduates of online law schools have passed on their fist attempt-even in California which boasts the hardest bar exam in the country.

Finding the Right Online Law Degree Program
How do you find the right law school? The old-fashioned way works best. Start out by getting a list of all the available online law degree programs. Then set aside some time to contact the schools directly and ask questions-a lot of questions. It's a good idea to find out something about the school's track record too by contacting the appropriate state agency to checkout their complaint record. Finally, after confirming the school's curriculum and cost are a good fit for you, you'll want to check to see that gradates of the school are permitted to take the bar exam.

Peter J. Loughlin achieved his dream of earning a college & law degrees using only distance learning. Now he helps others achieve their dreams at www.LawSchoolBible.com and www.MaxStudy.com

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