The Official Law School Thread

As someone that has a JD and is a practicing attorney...I would have to absolutely agree. People seem to forget the LLB. At one point in American history students could obtain an LLB instead of a JD. In the majority of countries in the world that's still the case. So instead of 7 "years" of schooling it was more like 3 or 4. I learned a ton in class. However, the real world experience you get from internships/etc. is hands down more important. In his speech he stated that the 3rd year could/should be replaced by a year of on-the-job training type stuff. In theory, a shorter law school curriculum benefits everyone.

 

Can anyone suggest a cheap/free class that would give someone a taste of legal studies without worrying about any credit/credential? This would be for my high school student who is interested in a small independent study class for a month or so. Thanks

 

Coursera has several courses, but I don't think any free course will give someone a realistic taste of legal studies. There is an awful lot of writing and reading of cases in law courses. I would recommend a business law course at a community college that requires essays and/or essay exams.

 

You might check out Course List - Hillsdale College Online Courses. They have two courses on the U.S. Constitution: Constitution 101 and 102, both free. Of course these are just video courses but you said you just wanted a taste. It may be a little dry for him/her but the study of law/legal studies begins and ends with the Constitution. It's a start. Hope this helps.

 

Just as a warning, the Hillsdale courses have a strong political bent. Of course, it is up to you and your child if you are both fine with that. If you're fine with video courses, then I'm sure you're aware of the Constitution series on Annenberg.

 

CourseSites MOOC Catalog by Blackboard:

The life of the Law
Duration: Ongoing
Scott S. Wishart

Scott S. Wishart imparts a general understanding of the U.S. Legal System and the Common Law Case Methodology, developing a fundamental understanding of U.S. Legal System, its history and elements of its ongoing evolution...

Upon completion of this course a student will have;
• Developed a fundamental understanding of U.S. Legal System, its history and elements of its ongoing evolution.
• An appreciation of the role of the Common Law Methodology within the U.S. Legal System.
• Developed an insight into the Case Law interpretive process.

https://www.coursesites.com/webapps/Bb-sites-course-creation-BBLEARN/pages/mooccatalog.html
https://www.coursesites.com/webapps/Bb-sites-course-creation-BBLEARN/courseHomepage.htmlx?course_id=_283099_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Rk_5TzOsz_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K91R2OvEj3c

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm going to follow up with the class we picked: ContractsX on edX w/Harvard
https://courses.edx.org/courses/HarvardX/HLS2x/1T2015/courseware/2da04ae2db6a4cb1ab5b7278ce8925c3/9f0d0e1a90d7480e94d75a4ecaad3874/

I chose this because I think contracts are interesting (to me) , and we already use edX so it seemed like a good fit. Thank you again for the suggestions! I'll be going through it with him, so I can post feedback if anyone is interested.