I had a question concerning Nashville School of Law. I am currently in undergrad at University of Tennessee and planning on attending law school. My major is finance and I am interested in corporate law. I was wondering if trying to get a job with a company while attending Nashville School of Law was a good idea or should I just go to school. What would be the best way to become a corporate lawyer? Because of financial reasons I will have to stay in state. I was also wondering if anyone knew anything about Nashville School of Law. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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i am from nashville as well, and i would if i were you try to go to UT if you want to stay in state instead and not work at the same time. Overall, you will get a MUCH better job coming from UT- K especially in the Nashville market because UT-K does a great job with job placement in Nashville and other parts of the state. Plus im pretty sure cost of living would be less if you lived in Knoxville, so thats a plus. Im not sure if this really answered your question but good luck with everything!

NSL isn't ABA accredited, meaning your diploma from there is not very valuable. I wouldn't consider it unless I had a job lined up that just wanted me to have any jd.

Your better choices are UT or Memphis if you need in-state tuition.

I wouldn't be so quick to rule Nashville School of Law out. If your goal is to merely get a law degree, it might be a good choice. From what I could tell, the Vandy law school has an interesting amount of disrespect for the students there...in the belittling, scared kind of way...like they are questioning the cost difference in the end and just how truly "superior" they are having gone to Vandy. As far as I know, NSL students still pass the bar at a pretty high rate. At the end of the day, they are lawyers too.

What's up with that ugly avatar deucey?

hey now, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Nashville has already been discussed here...including the job prospects...

I don't know that we at Vandy look down on NSL anymore than people on this board look at Tier 2 and 3 schools. Although, I actually don't know what it is ranked, and I didn't realize it wasn't accredited (that took it down a notch in my mind), so maybe I am just under-informed about its reputation.

If she just wants a degree, do it. But she better want to stay in Tennessee and plan to book her classes if she wants to walk straight into Corporate in the three big cities

I'm interning at a law firm in Nashville with several graduates from NSOL.
They are making bank right now handling domestics, civil lit, and bankruptcies.
Does it have the flare and pizazz of big-law? Absolutely not. But they are all making quite a comfortable living.

If big law doesn't interest you, why pay out the ass to go to Memphis ($41K per year) or UTK ($40K per year)?
Even subtracting 20K per for instate tuition, it just doesn't make sense economically when one can attend NSOL for roughly $5k a year and do the same exact job.
Once again, if, and only if, you want to stay in TN and have no aspiration for big-law.

I just want to clarify, just in case there are others on here that can't do math either (or maybe ones that just have horrible reading comprehension skills), NSL's tuition is NOT 5k per year. It is roughly 5k per semester. So you pay the same price you would at UTK or Memphis only to get a nonacced. degree.

Way to use those people skills, sweetheart. Save your congeniality for the OCIs.

Terrible advice in this thread. OP, do not go to NSL. At least go to Memphis if you can't make UTK.

Are you having a laugh?

UT Law instate tuition is $13k a year. http://www.law.utk.edu/administration/expenses.shtml

UM Law instate tuition is $13.5k a year. http://www.memphis.edu/financialaid/eligibility.php

NSL tuition is $10k a year. http://www.nashvilleschooloflaw.net/abouttheschool.aspx

Believe me, paying $3k/year more for ABA accreditation is WELL worth it.

Their domain name is a dot net. As a rule of thumb, never attend a school with a domain name that ends with .net or .com.

Sorry, won't be saving my congeniality "sweetheart." Had my last round of OCI's about a year ago. I do, however, concede that I was being rather snappy. Maybe I shouldn't have been, but I would have hated someone to pick NSL over another Tennessee state school based on faulty advice.

The nice thing about Nashville Law is the varied choice of chairs in the study areas:


And their pews:


Seriously, though. Don't go.

Some of you obviously can't read or research properly. NSL tuition is only $5000 per year; not semester. How do I know? I go there. We may not have matching chairs or a giant computer lab but what does that have to do with learning the law? While many of the other teachers at different law schools are merely academic, the teachers at NSL are practicing lawyers or sitting judges (FEDERAL & STATE). While you learn theories, we learn the law. I might not make the $100k salary right when I get out of school but I also won't have the $50-150k debt when I am done. Moreover, have you seen today's economy? I know plenty of T1 & T2 graduates who still can't get a job and are struggling to pay their loans back. You know, I've had to work for things my whole life. Today is no different. Mommy and Daddy never held my hand or handed over a trust fund. Instead, they instilled a sense of determination and common sense. I can promise that my work ethic is very desirable to any worthwhile employer. Work full time, family full time, and school full time. Those "long days" at the office as a young attorney will be a breeze compared to the 6:00am-10:00pm days for the past 4 years. If a firm or employer can't respect that type of work ethic, I don't want to work for them anyway. Bottom line, I know who I am and I am confident of what I can and will accomplish with my so-called "cheap or worthless" law degree. Matter of fact, I hope your opinions don't change after reading this. I can't wait to be opposing counsel to the type of people like the naysayers in this forum. They will take me and my NSL colleagues for granted only to regret doing so when the verdict is read or the judgment rendered. Looking forward to our day in court together. Be ready for the "I told you so." You'll know it when it happens.

I can assure you that unaccredited law schools have no monopoly on lawyers and judges teaching classes. John Roberts, for example, taught a class at my school up until the day he was appointed as Chief Justice. We also learn plenty of black letter law.

If you are happy with your choice, more power to you.



From their website: http://www.nashvilleschooloflaw.net/abouttheschool.aspx
For Henry Term 2009 the tuition is $404 per credit hour and for Cooper Term 2009-2010 the tuition is $424.00 per credit hour.

24 credit hours (12/semester, minimum for FT status) x $424 = $10,176

Does their website lie?

Cooper Term refers to 1L's entering in fall. Henry Term refers to 1L's entering in spring. Each term runs 10 months.
Since it's part time, we do 12 credits per year and go a 4th year.
424 x 12 = 5,088

Also note that our credit systems is different than most law schools. For example, with the core classes (Property, contracts, torts, criminal law, civ pro, etc...) they run the full year and only count for 3 credits each, whereas other schools sometimes divide the classes into 2 parts giving 3 credit to each class per semester. We are certainly learning the same amount and depth in each subject as other law schools.

But it is $10k a year for FT then? Wouldn't this imply around $60k debt load if fully financed? (assuming 10k tuition x 3rs = 30k, 10k living x 3 yrs =30k).



I understand that you are part time, so this doesn't apply to you. But it does appear someone going FT would indeed have over 50k in debt.

Also, if you only do 12 credits/yr and go 4yrs, wouldn't that mean that PT students graduate with only 48 credits while FT students need 72?

Another note: it's a bit disingenuous to say there are federal judges on the faculty. The website lists only one magistrate judge. There are no full on life-tenured federal judges on the faculty.

BTW: none of this is in the interest of hating. Just trying to spread accurate information to prospective students.

You shouldn't be so defensive about these other posters. I happen to attend Vanderbilt (as an undergraduate right now), and I'm sure many around here don't view you and other NSL students in a negative light. I certainly don't.

No one attends NSL full time. It is a part-time, night program only. Everyone takes 12 credit hours per year, and you either commence during the Cooper term or the Henry term but not both. There are a total of 48 credits to graduate which takes four years. If one cuts back his hours, it can take longer, but no one can take more than 12 credit hours per year.

The cost is significantly lower than most law schools which is very appealing to working adults, especially those who wish to remain in TN and practice law or use their degree for advancement in business. NSL is not for everyone. It will not get you an offer from Baker Donelson or Waller Landsen, but for those not seeking that type of employment post law school, it may be a perfectly suitable choice. Whether someone chooses to attend NSL, Vandy, Harvard, John Marsall or other, they still deserve respect for their decision just as you deserve respect for yours. On that, I think we can all agree.