First tutorial sesson with LTO

A dwindling group of posters continue to express mild interest in my LL.M. progress. So this is the latest update.

I had my first on-line tutorial with LTO in Sentencing and Criminal Process early this morning. A rainstorm took out my phone line so I had to scramble to my wife's office in town to use her computer.

It works VERY well (online tutorials, that is, not my wife's computer, though that worked well too). The tutor was very well prepared and knows her subject very, very well. She employed a variant of the Socratic method known to all American law students except that she was polite and I was prepared. Really, unlike a 1L, I knew HOW to prepare.

I strongly recommend LTO or some similar service for anyone studying law by D/L.

 

Mild? It's more than mild!

Is LTO www.lawtutorsonline.co.uk? Was the tutorial done live or was it recorded? What medium do they use? Chat, streaming video?

 

On line live chat with a tutor who, in this case, anyway, has her LL.M. from London.

Her lecture series is e mailed out in writing in advance of each tuition session.

 

Nosborne,

I care. I look upon your trials of the LLM process as foundation for me to follow. Keep us informed young sir....

 

Not so young, alas! 51 next July!

I am having to study Jurisprudence without tuition but with LTO's marvelous materials. They didn't have enough call for the subject this year to do tuition.

However, the stuff is getting organized in my tired old brain...I expect to pass both subjects in August.

Then...I don't know. There's an LL.M. in international trade law at the University of Arizona (Tucson) and I think my Spanish is probably good enough. Not D/L but a sabbatical might be a good idea in general.

The other possibility is NWCU's (unaccredited) S.J.D.

We'll see.

 

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone...

Me too! And don't call me dwindling!

Hey! Knock it off! I'm not that far behind you... and I'm certainly young. Say something like that again and I'll crack ya' up side 'o the head with my walker (you know... the one with the little tennis balls on its feet)!

Ah ha! It finally comes out. I knew there was some reason that your interest in NWCU has been so keen all this time!

Hmm. What an intriguing choice for someone whose JD is from an ABA-accredited school (and probably RA, too, I'm guessing... no?); and who has so successfully been practicing law for so long; and who clearly sees and believes in the importance of accreditation (that is... if your posts here are any indicator).

So... then... what's behind your interest in that program; and what about it most interests you? What do you see as the downside, if any, of doing NWCU's S.J.D. instead of the London LLM that you've been pursuing? And in which of the six specified areas (International Taxation, Medical Jurisprudence, International Law, Military Law, Space Law or Philosophy of Law (General Law)) do you think your dissertation would focus?

Also, why NWCU's S.J.D. and not its LLM?

Just curious.

 

I thought HARD about going for NWCU's LL.M. instead of London's degree. However, the London program had a concentration, criminology and criminal law, that NWCU doesn't offer. Also, the London program is way swanky, no? I even have their polo shirt!

There is no requirement for an LL.M. to enter the NWCU S.J.D. program. I could theoretically do both NWCU and London at the same time, but I'd be nuts to try. LTO sends me HUGE amounts of material to digest then tells me where to go for even MORE. Keep in mind that I am in the OLD (cheap) program; I have to pass two exams at the same time to progress. The NEW (expensive) program is MUCH more user friendly.

Why do the S.J.D.? Well, there IS NO other credible D/L S.J.D. in the world. No American school offers it, no Aussie school offers it, no Canadian school offers it...the Ph.D. in law is available from a very good English university and UNISA offers an LL.D. which is the Ph.D. by another name, but I don't think I want a Ph.D. The S.J.D. is (usually) defined as a dissertaton based, professional doctorate instead of a research degree. I am not interested in an academic career but I would like to learn to apply academic research tools in law. Thus, the S.J.D. There is only ONE D/L program; thus NWCU.

Actually, NWCU's credibility would be more of a problem for me than it is; the J.D. is the only really necessary degree to publish and my LL.M. (if and when earned) is solid enough. I can afford an unaccredited S.J.D., I think.

I'd do the S.J.D. in International Law, probably. I speak reasonable Spanish and have some very interesting questions about international criminal law issues between the U.S. and Mexico.