Unaccredited law schools an old problem

While looking for something else entirely, I came across this 32 year-old article concerning unaccredited law schools in California;

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946670,00.html

 

interesting information.

 

Even though many find fault with the BPPVE and the Education Codes of CA, I surmize that degrees are no longer for sale in CA. Very interesting information comparing this to today's distance degrees.

question to the group - Do you think that the ABA will rethink their stance on totally online law degrees given the acceptance of the four individuals from Kaplan in DC?

 

I posted the article as a glimpse into the past, not commentary on the current situation.

Not in my lifetime; the ABA is about as old school as it gets, and quite frankly there isn't such a need for new lawyers they need to change the process to keep up with the demand.

 

Presumably this refers to the recent news story that four graduates of online Concord Law School were admitted to the US Supreme Court Bar.

While that sounds pretty cool, I'm not sure that it really represents a great distinction in practice. As far as I can tell, it appears that anyone who has been a member of any State Bar for three years, and who can find two sponsors, can qualify for the Supreme Court Bar. So I don't think the Supreme Court is explicitly "endorsing" online degrees here; it is simply their practice to accept the decisions of state bar associations.

Other federal agencies also allow those without ABA degrees to practice certain forms of law. For example, engineers can take the "Patent Bar" exam and represent clients before the US Patent & Trademark Office, and CPAs can take the Tax Court Exam and represent clients before the US Tax Court.

 

Well....not quite. Back in those days, anyone with $50,000 in assets dedicated to the school (and people got quite creative about valuing their assets for this purpose) could establish a university. This included law schools. Thus, some very shady outfits, like Bernadean, CULA, and Southland, got authorization as universities, then opened "law schools."

But the problem wasn't with the legal education field, it was with the California Code, 94310(c), that allowed these "schools" to operate. That, and California's quite liberal pathway to the Bar, which allowed anyone to establish 864 hours of study per year for 4 years under the auspices of a licensed attorney--and passing the "Baby Bar" at the end of the first year--to sit for the Bar Exam.

Cool article, though.