Looking for Accredited OnLine Law School

Anyone know anything about West Haven University? Looking for law school online....
Thanks...new to forum

 

Hello Judy

West Haven is unaccredited, Personally I would avoid it. It seems that DL California Law Schools are unaccredited but are allowed to write for the California bar. But I am not sure if the unaccredited status will allow you to write for any other states bar.

The other risk is recognition of your degree outside of California and the U.S. I suppose a lawyer is a lawyer but having an unaccredited degree is a great risk even still.

May I ask what is your goal? Why do you want a law degree?

Kane

 

This is not an accredited university, which you said you are looking for.

In most states, potential lawyers must attend a law school accredited by the American Bar Association. The ABA does not accredit law schools conducting JD programs via distance learning.

In California, one may study the law via distance learning. There are several schools registered with the California State Bar for that purpose. Registered, but not approved. There are many residential law schools in the state that are approved by the State Bar, but none that offer the JD via distance learning.

So, you have three tiers in California:
Accredited by ABA
Approved by the State Bar
Registered by the State Bar

Please note that, for the most part, passing rates on the Bar exam by students of unaccredited DL schools is not good. West Haven has no track record in this regard because it is so new.

Understand also that this process is only good for the California State Bar; it will not qualify you--at least initially--to sit for the Bar in other states. Understand, too, that all students of unaccredited law schools in California have to sit for the "Baby Bar" after the first year of study. This hurdle must be leapt before any subsequent study may be counted towards completion of the study requirements necessary to sit for the Bar.

Concord University is the only school I'm aware of that is accredited by a recognized accrediting agency. However, that accreditation comes from the DETC, and does not cover--nor does it have any implications on--their law program. But at least it provides some semblance of assurance as to the legitimacy and soundness of the school. (Backed by the big bucks of The Washington Post, I wouldn't be too worried about them anyway. ) I'm not recommending them. Rather, I'm pointing out the nature of the unaccredited wilderness that is DL law schooling.

I am disappointed that West Haven chooses not to take head-on their accreditation situation. Reading the website gives one an impression of "all's well and normal." But it isn't. There have been some very bad schools registered with the State Bar to operate, but most of those operated before the California BPPVE required all schools (law or otherwise) to go through the approval process. Maybe the bad ones have been weeded out. Many are no longer offering bar-qualifying law programs.

Then there's the limitations of pursuing a law career with an unaccredited degree. You won't have any of the networking opportunities and little of the synergies that arise from interaction with faculty and peers. Also, your studies will be bereft of the "soft skills" that go into lawyering. But there are others on this board who are more familiar with these limitations.

Then there's the likelihood of success. Only about a quarter of applicants pass the Baby Bar, and only about a quarter of them pass the Bar. And that doesn't take into consideration the number of people who drop out along the way without taking one or the other.

Good luck.

Rich Douglas

 

Yipe!!!

Rich I never knew it was so complicated...YIPE!!!

Judy, you did not mention whether the school must be in the U.S. or not so I will recommend a couple of international DL law schools.

1) University of London External LL.B Programme
2) University of South Africa LL.B Programme

I believe the Universities of Northumbria and Wolverhampton in the U.K. offer LL.B programs also.

 

The rules governing admission to the bar are subtly different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

So your first step should be to investigate the requirements in your state (or province, nation etc.). If you anticipate moving, check out the requirements where you will be going.
In all but a few American states, you will need a law degree accredited by the American Bar Association, and the ABA does not accredit distance education schools.

Concerning foreign law degrees, California will accept a foreign degree if it has proper recognition at home and treats the common-law tradition. If it was earned from a country with a different legal tradition, there are additional requirements. BUT, the degree has to have been earned on-campus. As I read the applicable code sections, California only accepts DL law study from schools that California itself recognizes. In other cases, the student needs to have achieved admission to some bar outside California first, then must seek admission to the California bar as an attorney applicant and not as a new law school graduate. So London and Wolverhampton may have great DL programs, but I don't think that they will get you into the California bar unless you become a barrister in Britain or someplace first.

Other American states all have their own peculiarities, but on average they are even stricter than California on these things. So your first step should probably be to contact your local bar association.

 

Good points

It also depends on what you want the degree for. A friend of mine took UNISA's LL.B simply because he felt having the degree would add a certain notch of professional recognition to his resume and reputation.

 

Judyca
There have been many, many discussions on this board concerning on-line law programs. A search might answer most of your questions. You might also check out www.malet.com concerning the Univesity of London LLB program.
Nosborne

 

For a list of California law schools, many with links to their web sites, visit: http://www.calbar.org/admissions/2admsch.htm

For schools offerring bar qualifying DL programs, scroll down to the "correspondence schools" section.

Christopher

 

Bill --

Are you sure that an LLB will qualify you for the CA Bar? I know that in NY if you have an LLB, you need to take an LLM or go back for a JD to take the NY bar. The reason I ask is because there is a girl from Scotland with an LLB from a Scottish university (I don't know which one) in my 1L class -- I don't know why she is not going the LLM route, but she is working on her JD so she can sit for the bar in CA. I guess I could ask her about it -- I'll try and talk with her tomorrow and post what I find out.

Richard

 

I'm not an attorney, and even when I'm sure of something it doesn't necessarily mean that it's so.

But CA Business and Professional Code section 6060 sets out educational requirements for admission to the bar, and while it specifies things like accreditation, program length and number of classroom hours, it doesn't specify what the degree must be called.

http://www.calbar.org/pub250/b/s0080-a.htm

I'm just speculating, but perhaps the Scottish LLB is an undergraduate degree. The California Bar Act also specifies that a student have at least two years of university education before beginning law school.

 

I think her LLB is an undergrad degree -- I will check -- that would certainly make sense.

 

Interesting

A Juris Doctor degree is a doctorate degree I would presume? as it has the term doctor in it's title.

Yet I have never met a person with a J.D. who uses the title "Doctor" or puts "Dr" before their name on written correspondence.

The only time I have known a person (with a JD) to use the title "Doctor" is if they have a ph.D, LL.D or Ed.D in addition to the JD.

I wonder why this is the case?

 

Re: Interesting

This is because lawyers are so modest, as Nosborne has explained: http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=29796#post29796

 

Ahhhhh

Is it truly modesty and humility or do they believe their JD is nothing more then a Bachelors in a Doctorates clothing? *S*

 

I can maybe offer a possible reason why the Scottish LLB holder is taking an American JD vice an American LLM.
Although ENGLAND is the original common law country, Scotland is a CIVIL law country. Admission to the Scottish Bar requires an LLB from a Scottish University. An English degree will not do. Similarly, in those U.S. states that allow foreign trained lawyers to take the Bar, they usually specify that the lawyer comes from a country where the common law of England forms the basis of that country's jurisprudence.

Nosborne

 

That makes sense.

(I was unaware that Scotland's legal system did not follow English common law, but knowing the Scots I'm not surprised. LOL)

California does (vaguely) mention this issue. CA B&P Code section 6060 (e)(3)(i) says in part:

A person who has received his or her legal education in a foreign state or country wherein the common law of England does not constitute the basis of jurisprudence shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the examining committee that his or her education, experience, and qualifications qualify him or her to take the examination.

 

Re: Interesting

Lawyers traditionally received a Bachelor of Laws degree. In the U.S., this was a second bachelor's, but functioned like a 3-year master's with no thesis. The title "JD" was a recent development; curricula didn't change, just the name of the degree.

Lawyers may not want to be confused with other professions, confusion that might come about through the use of the title "doctor."

Law is a very tradition-bound profession; it would seem strange to suddenly have all of these barristers calling themselves "doctor."

Lawyers in other countries do not receive the JD; they wouldn't be called "doctor."

I've seen it done in academics, but that's because other academics were being called "doctor," too.

I don't think these professional doctorates should even use the term "doctor" in their degree designations. The guy who does your will or checks your eyeglasses is no "doctor," in either the medical or academic sense.

Rich Douglas

 

Hmmmm....

>>I don't think these professional doctorates should even use the term "doctor" in their degree designations. The guy who does your will or checks your eyeglasses is no "doctor," in either the medical or academic sense.<<

Isn't the MD degree a "professional" degree too?

 

Yeah, I was just taking a short-cut to get to my point.

Of course, an argument could be made about the MD along those lines, too. But culturally, physicians have been called "doctor" so much and so long that they've even supplanted academics as the routine connotation for the term. The people who have completed "real" doctoral programs (research resulting in original and significant contributions to the field of knowledge) are occasionally criticized for using the term "doctor" and trying to sound like MD's. Silly.

Rich Douglas

 

COMMON VS: CIVIL LAW

In Canada we have the same division. 9 of the provinces here are under Common Law while Quebec is under civil law.

I believe in the U.S. Louisiana is under Civil Law? If so are their degree in Law different?