Saratoga JD

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by bo79, Oct 25, 2004.

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  1. bo79

    bo79 New Member

    My friend asked my to edit her resume for her. She has a BA and an MA from Syracuse University. However she also has a JD from Saratoga University Law School. Right now I am wondering if the JD might be doing here more harm then good. So I am thinking of eliminating the JD from here resume. What do you guys think?
     
  2. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member


    Has she taken and passed a bar exam? Does it relate to the jobs for which she is applying? If so, there is no reason to exclude it. It is a legitimate way to become a lawyer in California.

    However, if she hasn't passed the bar somewhere and it doesn't relate to her prospective jobs, then I wouldn't put it on the resume.

    Btw, I notice that their website is down. I wonder if that means anything.



    Tom Nixon
     
  3. Randy Miller

    Randy Miller New Member

    The dean, and apparently the only employee of Saratoga, has disappeared with all the schools records. He ran the school from his house which has been sold.

    The Bureau for Private Education has been unable to contact him. Students based in California can request a refund through the state.

    The Committee of Bar Examiners has removed it from the list of California law schools.

    If she has qualified to take the bar exam, I think I would list it. If it was Saratoga's worthless non-bar program, I think I would forget about it.
     
  4. bo79

    bo79 New Member

    Hey Guys,

    She works in finance, and no she has not passed the CAL BAR.
     
  5. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    write-off time

    My guess would be to omit Saratoga. The school is defunct, was unaccredited, and its special status in California likely wouldn't be understood elsewhere--and it was a crappy representative of the schools with that special status when it was functioning. I don't disparage the work your friend did, but the invisible Mr Narkin's school is a dead donkey at this point. Drop it.
     
  6. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    What uncle said.
     
  7. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    When other California unaccredited law schools have closed, or been closed, graduates were given something like seven years to pass the Bar. If that is an option, might be worth considering. There are people out there practicing law with LaSalle, Southland, Kensington, and Bernadean degrees -- probably not at six-name firms*, but for many people the fact of the Bar pass does trump the alma mater.
    ____
    * The then-huge law firm that my first employer used in SF required that their phone be answered, "Good morning, Cooley Crowley Gaither Godward Castro and Huddleston." Telephonists with agile tongues.
     
  8. David Boyd

    David Boyd New Member

    There's no limit to the number of times a person can take the bar exam. A few years ago a gentleman passed on something like his 40th attempt. (That's 20 years.)
     
  9. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Taft grad, wasn't he?? GRIN
     
  10. David Boyd

    David Boyd New Member

    No, this particular individual was from a California accredited school.

    I will confess to one of our graduates who took the exam approximately twenty times before he passed. He was a fourth year transfer student from an ABA school.

    This resulted in a change of policy. These days we rarely, if ever, accept 4th year transfer students and we evaluate all transfer students very, very carefully.
     
  11. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    Sorry to ask something I should know, but are you associated with a school?

    Thanks,

    Dave
     
  12. Randy Miller

    Randy Miller New Member

    I believe David is an administrator at William Taft University.
     
  13. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member


    I believe David is president of William Howard Taft University.



    Tom Nixon
     
  14. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member


    Twenty times? Wow. My wife's cousin finally passed on the seventh try and I thought that was excessive.



    Tom Nixon
     
  15. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Speaking seriously for a moment, David Boyd's post demonstrates an important truth. A graduate of Taft's J.D. program will almost certainly become licensed if he keeps at it. You CAN become a lawyer by D/L!
     
  16. warguns

    warguns Member

    bar pass times

    It is interesting to note that the California State bar will NOT inform a consumer how many times a lawyer failed the bar examination even if one asks.

    If my lawyer failed it 40 times I would certainly like to know this.
     
  17. warguns

    warguns Member

    Actually, this famous individual, Maxcy Dean Filer, who failed the California Bar Examination forty-eight times (1966-1991) before he passed it, graduated from "Van Norman University" which is NOT a California accedited school.

    Van Norman University does not appear on the California State Bar page of law schools at all, although its JD program is "accredited" by the California Bureau for Private Post-Secondary Education (as is the "A Belle's School of Cake Decorating").
     
  18. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Perhaps the school went out of business.

    In California, it is possible to study in any of several types of non ABA law programs. There are CalBar accredited schools like the San Francisco Law School, whose students are exempt from the Baby Bar and who may study full time for for three or part time for four years, unaccredited law schools whose students must take the Baby Bar and must study for four years, correspondence schools like Taft and Concord (four years and Baby Bar required), and study in a lawyer's office or judge's chambers for four years, Baby Bar required.

    It is also possible to "mix and match" between these various methods of legal study.
     
  19. warguns

    warguns Member

    re: Van Norman University

    Van Norman University is listed as currently accredited by the Bureau for Private Post Secondary Education "http://www.soicc.ca.gov/ctep/" but is NOT on the Cal Bar's list of law schools, accredited or not.

    One person who graduated from Van Norman took the Cal Bar exam in 2003. He/ she was a repeater so there is no way to know when he graduated.

    One the 2003 Bar results however, Van Norman is listed as an unaccredited law school.
     
  20. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Odd.

    Even an unaccredited residential law school has to register with CalBar, or so I thought.

    Could the BVPPE be behind the times?
     

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