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onmygo

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Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by onmygo » Fri Mar 16, 2018 6:56 pm

Anyone see this story? I live in CA, i didn't know this but here you can take the BAR without law school. Or you can go to an online JD program for 3000 grand a year and save a ton of money. I'm seriously considering this route. Thoughts???

https://www.theroot.com/watch-these-fut ... 1823042118

Skadidas

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by Skadidas » Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:29 pm

There are several issues with this.

1. No OCI.

One of the primary avenues to employment is a school's "on-campus interview" season in which firms flock to campus and interview for a position at their firm. By opting for an online school or skipping law school entirely your only path to employment is previous existing connections and submitting resumes blindly. Think of it from the employer's perspective. Why would they hire someone that is unaffiliated with a law school when they literally have thousands upon thousands of desperate and unemployed graduates from law schools ranging in rank from 1 and beyond that have taken classes that has presumably familiarized them with the law at least somewhat?

2. No alumni.

Even schools not ranked as high as their peers have loyal alumni that luckily find some type of employment (hopefully). These alumni can potentially help out fellow alumni looking for jobs since they will feel a connection with a graduate from their same law school. You don't have that interaction with an online school or by way of foregoing law school altogether.


If the main argument in favor of foregoing law school to take the bar or opting to choose an online program is affordability, that individual in question is better off doing 1 of the following. #1 Retake the LSAT to get into a better school or earn scholarship at a lesser ranked university. #2 Do not go to law school. The individuals this program targets and presupposes will therefore benefit from the program's existence are individuals that should either retake the LSAT or not go to law school.

onmygo

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by onmygo » Fri Mar 16, 2018 8:48 pm

All of the below are grads from an online Law school. (The list was waaaaay too long to post here, this is just a few)

Paula Turner-Abbiss
Deputy District Attorney for Tulare County, California
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Saul Acherman
Patent Attorney/Intellectual Property and Business Litigation Lawyer
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Paul A. Ballonoff
Lawyer/Consultant/Author (Books including: ‘Limiting Federal Regulation’)
Member of the Bar: California and Washington D.C.
[Read more] [Book review]
Edward J. Barton
Attorney/Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Professor of Business
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Joyce K. Batterson
Lawyer/Vice President, Legal & Regulatory Management at Curo Financial Technologies Corporation
Member of the Bar: California and Washington D.C.
[Read more]
Meredith Allen-Belghiti
Director of Legal Division and Corporate Counsel for Jacobs Engineering, Casablanca, Morocco
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more] [Also see]
Douglas E. Belyeu
Litigation Lawyer – Bankruptcy, Family, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Justin M. Betance
Private Practice Lawyer – Business, Real Estate, Estate Planning, Probate, Bankruptcy and Tax Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Kim I. Bingham
Private Practice Lawyer – Estate Planning Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Clayton A. Bond
Attorney/Activist/Civil Rights Advocate
(Former U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer)
Member of the Bar: California
[Read More] [Also See]
John F. Brady
Patent Attorney/Engineer
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Paul H. Bratton
Lawyer/Environmentalist/Consumer Advocate
Member of the Bar: California and Alaska
[Read more]
Ruth A. Brissenden
Private Practice Lawyer – Family and Estate Planning Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]

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Toni V

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by Toni V » Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:05 pm

My understanding is that a fairly high % of law school grads (from prestigious law schools) fail the CA bar…..some fail it multiple times. So, let’s say you bypassed that whole law school ordeal and you found someone to loan you their Barbri and you studied it for 2/3 months, what are the chances of [ever] passing the CA bar?

I suppose it is doable.

onmygo

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Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2018 6:50 pm

Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by onmygo » Sat Mar 17, 2018 11:27 am

onmygo wrote:All of the below are grads from an online Law school. (The list was waaaaay too long to post here, this is just a few)

They are Alumni all from the same school.

Paula Turner-Abbiss
Deputy District Attorney for Tulare County, California
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Saul Acherman
Patent Attorney/Intellectual Property and Business Litigation Lawyer
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Paul A. Ballonoff
Lawyer/Consultant/Author (Books including: ‘Limiting Federal Regulation’)
Member of the Bar: California and Washington D.C.
[Read more] [Book review]
Edward J. Barton
Attorney/Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Professor of Business
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Joyce K. Batterson
Lawyer/Vice President, Legal & Regulatory Management at Curo Financial Technologies Corporation
Member of the Bar: California and Washington D.C.
[Read more]
Meredith Allen-Belghiti
Director of Legal Division and Corporate Counsel for Jacobs Engineering, Casablanca, Morocco
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more] [Also see]
Douglas E. Belyeu
Litigation Lawyer – Bankruptcy, Family, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Justin M. Betance
Private Practice Lawyer – Business, Real Estate, Estate Planning, Probate, Bankruptcy and Tax Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Kim I. Bingham
Private Practice Lawyer – Estate Planning Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Clayton A. Bond
Attorney/Activist/Civil Rights Advocate
(Former U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer)
Member of the Bar: California
[Read More] [Also See]
John F. Brady
Patent Attorney/Engineer
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]
Paul H. Bratton
Lawyer/Environmentalist/Consumer Advocate
Member of the Bar: California and Alaska
[Read more]
Ruth A. Brissenden
Private Practice Lawyer – Family and Estate Planning Law
Member of the Bar: California
[Read more]

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jgloster

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by jgloster » Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:01 pm

I would love to become a lawyer without going to law school.

onmygo

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by onmygo » Mon Mar 19, 2018 4:53 pm

Its easy if you live in CA. (Not easy to finish school, but easy to go to school) not sure about other states.

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RedGiant

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by RedGiant » Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:08 pm

This obviously depends on what your post-grad goals are, but you first need to find someone to sponsor you, and then you need to work and study at the same time, and then you have to take the bar.

In about 2010 or 2011, the California Bar Magazine (whatever it's formal name is--the actual publication put out by the Bar itself) did a story on people who had read for the bar in the state. There were less than 30 in the past decade, and of those, only 2 had passed (or some other such nonsensical odds).

Listen, this might sound like a way to save money, but I think it's actually a way to spend time kidding yourself that you're moving towards getting a law degree when you will get your shorts blown off by the baby bar and bar exams. Go into this eyes wide open.

Yulifus

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by Yulifus » Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:18 pm

If you live in CA and plan to stay in CA, you can consider it, if there is an attorney or a judge who is willing to be your mentor. If you want flexible employment opportunities across state lines, then go to an ABA accredited law school.

LSthrowawy2014

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Re: Become a lawyer without going to law school

Post by LSthrowawy2014 » Fri Mar 30, 2018 8:03 pm

The formatting on that list is terrible, but lol at 13 distinguished graduates in total

Pretty sure you could find more from Cooley, it doesn't make going either route a good option.

What matters is statistics. Those 13 people would most likely be successful no matter where they went, unless you are absolutely convinced that you would similarly become successful no matter what doors were or were not open to you, they are not strong evidence.

Look at percentages

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