William Howard Taft

Has anyone heard any good/positive, bad or indifferent opinions regarding William Howard Taft School of Law?

 

Sure. Welcome aboard. Use the search function to check for old threads about WTU. Also, David Boyd, president of WTU, posts here from time to time. Search for posts by him, too. Good luck. Janko

 

I'm certainly not an attorney, but my impression is that Taft is one of the better California distance-learning law programs. That's judging from its recent California bar exam pass rates. The fact that Taft successfully obtained accreditation from DETC isn't tremendously relevant to a law program, but it does provide some additional credibility to Taft's offerings in general.

I'm rather favorably inclined towards it, while keeping in mind that has very little reputation, minimal prestige and it has significant drawbacks: not ABA, not regionally accredited and the fact that it is distance-learning (which is still controversial in the legal world). Its biggest positive is that it provides a viable way to become an attorney in California.

One potential problem that I see for you is that you say you live in Orlando. Would a non-ABA California distance-learning law degree be bar qualifying in Florida? I doubt it and you will need to research that very carefully.

 

There are only 2 accrediting bodies accepted for US Law Schools, they are the ABA (American Bar Association) and the AALS (American Association of Law Schools).

All other DL type accreditations mean nothing in the legal profession.

While Taft may offer a "backdoor" way of getting a JD and possibly even becoming a licensed attorney (CA is the only state that allows non-ABA law school graduates to sit for the bar), ABA accreditation is the US law school standard, the same way the 6 regional accreditiation agencies are the standard for US colleges.

Some states allow a waiver into their bar exam IF you graduate from a CA non-ABA school, pass the CA bar AND PRACTICE LAW IN CA for a period of time (usually 5 years), most states (you will need to check the with the FL Bar Assoc in your case) donot allow non-ABA accredited graduates to sit for the bar.

There is a reason why the ABA accredits schools and why most in the legal profession (outside of the proprietors of non-ABA schools and their graduates) are reluctant to give credability to those schools.

 

William Howard Taft School of Law-Thank You!

First, let me say that I appreciate and accept all of your responses. That is one of the many reasons I like being a part of a forum of intellects such as this.

From the research that I have done to date, I have found Florida to be one of the strictest bar qualifying states. Florida Bar Association requires graduating from an ABA Law School in order to sit the bar. Out of state attorneys must practice and must reside in Florida for five years before they can sit the Bar Exam. In my case, I am from The Bahamas where I was an articled law student (British system) for two years while I studied towards my LLB with University of London Law School. I never finished my LLB, preferring instead to get married and relocate here with my American husband ( a happy choice).

I will complete my B.Sc degree at Barry University, Orlando Campus in January 2004.

I would prefer to study Law in a traditional setting except that I have great difficulty obtaining more than a 135 on my LSAT (taken it twice). Orlando has two law schools, one is not accredited but expects to apply and receive accreditation before it graduates it's first set of law students, and the other has conditional accreditations. There is a list of students waiting to get in so even with my grade point average hovering between a 3.6 and a 3.7 I dont stand much of a chance. I do want to study law. Even if I have to go the non-traditional route. Relocating to another state is out of the question at this time.

I dont see where I have much of an alternative right now. William Howard Taft would probably be my best bet. If I graduate with a JD degree and went to school and received an LLM degree, would I be able to sit the Florida Bar? That is the information I would like to know at this time.

Thank you all again.

Kind Regards,
Shannon

 

Re: William Howard Taft School of Law-Thank You!

Have you taken a prep course or did you study for the LSAT? If you are not doing better than a 135 and have a 3.6/7 GPA then I think a prep course would benefit you greatly. I believe TestMasters have an average score increase of 13 points for their students.

 

I have never dealt with Taft or any other unaccredited law school but there are two things about Taft that I find to be impressive; well, three things.
1) They DO NOT OFFER a non Bar qualifying JD. (Neither does any State Bar approved or ABA accredited law school.
2) They actually SUED their original tinker toy accrediting agency, for not doing its job and won.
3) Their tax continuing education programs are approved by everybody in the world of tax accounting, IIUC.

I am also moderately impressed with their Bar and Baby Bar results.

I am vaguely impressed by their DETC accreditation, but in the world of legal education, that doesn't really count for much.

They ARE expensive. They get almost as much as Concord.

Could you finish your LL.B through the University of London?

 

Response

No, I have never taken a test prep course or studied for the LSAT. As a matter of fact, until recently, I had no idea one could study for this exam. I thought you either had what it took to get into school or you didnt. Now that I know, TestMasters will hear from me. So you think if I got a 135 before TestMaster, I'd probably do better with TestMasters huh? Thanks for your help. Thanks to all of you.

 

ABA approved

It appears to be very difficult to apply for the BAR without the ABA approved JD. The rule requires a JD from an ABA approved school or alternative education.

See this URL

http://www.floridabarexam.org/

and below:

Admission Requirements
To seek admission to The Florida Bar, a person must meet the eligibility qualifications summarized below and file the appropriate applications and fees.

"Educational Qualification. All applicants seeking admission to The Florida Bar must be enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school that will ultimately result in the awarding of a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, or must have already been awarded the JD degree from an ABA-accredited law school at a time when the law school was accredited or within 12 months of accreditation or be found educationally qualified by the Board under the alternative method of educational qualification as set forth in the Rules (4-13.4)."

here is that rule:

(1) such evidence as the Board may require that the applicant was engaged in the practice of law for at least 10 years in the District of Columbia, in other states of the United States of America, or in federal courts of the United States or its territories, possessions, or protectorates, and was in good standing at the bar of the jurisdictions in which the applicant practiced; and

(2) a representative compilation of work product in the field of law showing the scope and character of the applicant's previous experience and practice at the bar, including samples of the quality of the applicant's work, such as pleadings, briefs, legal memoranda, contracts, or other working papers which the applicant considers illustrative of the applicant's expertise and academic and legal training. The representative compilation of work product shall be confined to the applicant's most recent 10 years of practice and shall be complete and include all supplemental documents requested.

It would be much easier to just work on you LSAT score.

 

LadyExecutive,

Why don't you finish you're LLB at University of London?

I personally think this is would be you're best option because:
1. I think it will be a lot more easier to get into the bar.
2. I think it will be a lot more easier to get into an LLM program at and ABA law school.
3. You will be more respected and taken a lot more serious as a lawyer by other lawyers.


Bo

 

Re: Response

I recently read somewhere (a law school publication) that 30% of LSAT takers had taken a prep course before the exam. I am aware of VERY few people who sit the LSAT without a lot of preparation.

I will be taking the LSAT so that I have the option of going to law school even though I may never go. I will certainly be taking a prep course or at least spending about 3 months preparing for it. I have friends who graduated from top law schools (USC, UCLA, Duke, and several from Tulane) and all but a couple of them took prep courses or spent a solid 3 months studying for the LSAT.

From my own personal experience I can say that by practicing on my own for only 3 weeks my score went from a 156 to about a 163 (on average). You can order real past LSAT exams from LSAC, if I am not mistaken, to practice with. MANY books are available to help you “Crack” the LSAT (Look on www.amazon.com for people’s reviews of different books). In fact, you can even buy books with real LSAT's in them (these may help you):
The Official LSAT Prep Test with Explanations
Official LSAT Preptests: 10 Actual

Also, Vault has a message forum that might be helpful.

I do know people who did not take a prep course or study very much and they scored in the 95 percentile, so of course many people CAN do it.

If you take a test prep course and your score does not improve then you can get a refund (check the policy).

If you can make yourself study, and it sounds like you are motivated, then you may just need to spend a few months with your nose in some LSAT books. I think the investment would be well worth it considering the looong route you will have to go with an non-ABA JD if you want to practice in Florida.

 

If, for whatever reason, you simply can't get your LSAT up to a competive level, then I think this is sound advice.

 

Um. Here in the U.S, the London external LL.B. is actually not all that useful for getting admitted to a state Bar. Those few who have done it use the LL.B to get into an LL.M program at a resident, ABA school. As far as getting admitted to SOME state Bar through D/L, a California correspondence JD is a more direct route. The standard web page is www.malet.com

 

Can't a US LLM apply to the Bar? I thought so, but I don't know. If they can, then what is the difference except that will she finish sooner and the LL.B. looks better than a non-ABA JD (maybe that is just my opinion though)?

 

Bar admission requirements vary greatly from state to state. Some states require all applicants to hold a JD from an ABA accredited school; others, like Washington State and California, require no law degree at all, under certain circumstances. Most states fall somewhere in between.

Enough states will allow the holder of an LL.M from an ABA accredited school to take the Bar that the ABA found it necessary to issue a position statement condemning the practice.