Monterey College of Law - an accredited non-ABA Option Forum

[gnomgnomuch]

+4
Worked full time making around minimum wage and totally supporting myself. Prepped for and took the test three times. I had an LSAC waiver so it wasn't like I was oozing with cash.

oh god man, i cant even imagine surviving on a min wage salary... did you live in NY/SF or something, or was it more manageable? Also, serious props.

God bless Texas

Come to think of it that year was probably more like $10 an hour, which is a decent clip above minimum wage. Still, I wasn't exactly rolling in dough and I was working 40 hours a week so didn't have an abundance of free time either.

10 an hour is not a lot. My first job pays 10 an hour, and my 2nd pays 20 an hour... combined together i make just enough to still love at home with my parents.... gotta love NY rent.

[despina]

+5. Studied in the evenings with a full time job and other personal obligations.

I definitely respect that not everybody has the time and money for full-time prep or expensive materials. I also fully respect that you don't need 170+ or attend a top school to be a great lawyer.

However, as folks have already said above, it's hard to imagine that somebody scoring in the 130s could possibly survive law school, much less become a successful lawyer. To score that low, even with zero prior preparation, you would need to genuinely struggle with English literacy, basic logic, and/or doing simple intellectual tasks under time pressure. Any one of these things would surely be huge obstacles to even an otherwise intelligent and hardworking person to success in law school, much less a legal career. I'm genuinely curious how MCL justifies admitting folks who demonstrate these struggles, beyond the accusation that others have made here that it's just to make money on people who don't understand that their career aspirations are unrealistic. Looking forward to learning the answer.

[despina]

Highly doubt it is a flame. Actually impersonating someone and advertising that person or organization's business services can get you in a lot of trouble. I doubt anyone cares enough to risk their pecuniary livelihood for it.

Agreed. And if it were a flame, the real MCL would have heard of it by now and gotten sites like TLS to take it down and ban whoever was responsible.

[BigZuck]

He's been at it on TLS for like 8 years, would have to be one hell of a dedicated flame:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/archives ... f=4&t=2241

[PepperJack]

Just was trying to give the benefit of the doubt. It's like they say about criminal law - better to let 9 guilty people go free than lock up 1 innocent.

[Tanicius]

He's been at it on TLS for like 8 years, would have to be one hell of a dedicated flame:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/archives ... f=4&t=2241

Hahahahaha. Best part is this post. It's classic TLS Ken:

Dean Dean Winick,

Thank you for your excellent and informative post discussing the many attributes of your law school. The fact that you would take the time to post this shows your enthusaism and energy that will continue to improve Monterey College of Law. I certainly can confirm that Monterey is one of the most beautiful places in American and if all goes well with our finances we want to buy a second home there because it is so beautiful.

Thanks again for your post and your providing your email so that interested students can learn more about Monterey College of Law.

Best regards,

Ken

[03152016]

He's been at it on TLS for like 8 years, would have to be one hell of a dedicated flame:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/archives ... f=4&t=2241

Hahahahaha. Best part is this post. It's classic TLS Ken:

Dean Dean Winick,

Thank you for your excellent and informative post discussing the many attributes of your law school. The fact that you would take the time to post this shows your enthusaism and energy that will continue to improve Monterey College of Law. I certainly can confirm that Monterey is one of the most beautiful places in American and if all goes well with our finances we want to buy a second home there because it is so beautiful.

Thanks again for your post and your providing your email so that interested students can learn more about Monterey College of Law.

Best regards,

Ken

well looks like things went well with his finances

[PepperJack]

There's this guy from the same thread pretending to be the Dean four-years ago, adding some credibility to the troll possibility (and I must admit I find him to be an excellent writer):

LawBoy wrote:
Because the ABA requires that an ABA accredited school hire a fixed percentage of full-time law professors to students (15 to 1, 12 to 1 are numbers that are thought to be current, but the actual number is a secret!), and pay a minimum salary, schools like Monterey College of Law (MCL) will ever be accredited; they hire only part-time professors, who are lawyers and judges in real life. The school operates only at night, and by my estimate carries about 130 students at any given time. Full-time professors are not an option for this school.

Because the ABA has a requirement that an accredited school carry a fixed number of volume of books in its law library, a number that is not a reality for a school of 130 students who attend school about 12 hours per week, MCL will never gain accreditation.

At an ABA school you will not likely get the personalized attention from your professors that you find at MCL. When you pass the bar and finally open a practice or join a firm you will know quite a few actual practicing local attorneys who are already familiar with you.

That first time you step into a courtroom and have to face a judge, it sure does not hurt that last summer it was this very judge who taught you courtroom procedures and practice.

Yes MCL might be for you if you plan to practice in California and not out of state. MCL might be for you if this is not your first career and you do not plan to take a job that requires 75 hours a week as a new attorney would expect. MCL might be for you if you do not want to have a student loan debt that matches the national budget of a small third world nation.

Many people who go to MCL never plan to take the bar and become an attorney; they cannot afford the pay cut from their current jobs as CEO, doctors, dentists, bankers etc.

When you read that MCL who is pushing 30 years of service to their community has “still not” gained ABA acceptance, consider this; MCL does NOT want to take that road. ABA accreditation would be the death nell for schools like MCL; it would drive the prices way up, would require a huge growth in the student population that is unrealistic for a community based law school and would take the focus off the goal of MCL; to provide a quality education at realistic prices producing lawyers who will benefit their community and not simply leave the area to work for Goldman Sachs, Exxon, or Enron.

I graduated from MCL 13 years ago, am licensed in California, and the US Supreme Court. I am a partner in a local law firm, left MCL with no debt; appear in court at over 30 hearings per month. Only once has a potential client asked me what law school I attended. I told him, and helped him with his legal issue. I am happy to say that HE will be graduating from MCL in just about a month. I made many friends at MCL who are still an important part of my life. Very often the lawyer at the other table is also a graduate of MCL, it never hurts.

[Tanicius]

There's this guy from the same thread pretending to be the Dean four-years ago, adding some credibility to the troll possibility (and I must admit I find him to be an excellent writer):

As far as I can tell that poster wasn't claiming to be the dean, but an alumni.

[PepperJack]

There's this guy from the same thread pretending to be the Dean four-years ago, adding some credibility to the troll possibility (and I must admit I find him to be an excellent writer):

As far as I can tell that poster wasn't claiming to be the dean, but an alumni.

"Only 1 client has ever asked me where I went to law school. I told him. Now he is a student at Montery."

I've met two clients. They both asked me in 5 minutes (maybe I seemed incompetent, or maybe it's a general question).

[Tanicius]

There's this guy from the same thread pretending to be the Dean four-years ago, adding some credibility to the troll possibility (and I must admit I find him to be an excellent writer):

As far as I can tell that poster wasn't claiming to be the dean, but an alumni.

"Only 1 client has ever asked me where I went to law school. I told him. Now he is a student at Montery."

I've met two clients. They both asked me in 5 minutes (maybe I seemed incompetent, or maybe it's a general question).

Yes, client. As in, he's a lawyer who went to MCL, not a dean of MCL. His clients would be people he represents, not students.

[dowu]

Welp, this really backfired.

[PepperJack]

There's this guy from the same thread pretending to be the Dean four-years ago, adding some credibility to the troll possibility (and I must admit I find him to be an excellent writer):

As far as I can tell that poster wasn't claiming to be the dean, but an alumni.

"Only 1 client has ever asked me where I went to law school. I told him. Now he is a student at Montery."

I've met two clients. They both asked me in 5 minutes (maybe I seemed incompetent, or maybe it's a general question).

Yes, client. As in, he's a lawyer who went to MCL, not a dean of MCL. His clients would be people he represents, not students.

I got your point. Mine was merely that people have trolled this breh before.

[BigZuck]

Welp, this really backfired.

This + 'tar

[dowu]

[Mal Reynolds]

This is just sad.

Fun fact: I think the Dean of Texas Tech and this dude are the two biggest hucksters on this board. Turns out that the MCL dean used to work at TT also. Cut from the same cloth those two.

[redsox]

This is just sad.

Fun fact: I think the Dean of Texas Tech and this dude are the two biggest hucksters on this board. Turns out that the MCL dean used to work at TT also. Cut from the same cloth those two.

Come on man. SPerez doesn't deserve to be associated with this guy.

[heavoldgotjuice]

MCL Law Dean, I was watching a South Park episode when I came across your thread. The episode was about old people being conned into buying "expensive" jewelry via his tv show, which was in fact worth nothing. Basically, the salesman was saying "i've got real expensive jewelry but i'm willing to sell it to you for only $1", then the old people would buy the gifts for their grandchildren thinking they were benefiting their family as whole. At the end of the episode, many of the South Park characters began calling in on the tv show and telling the salesman to kill himself. Eventually, the salesman blew his brains out with a revolver on tv.

I wonder if you may reach the same fate. That is all

[Mal Reynolds]

This is just sad.

Fun fact: I think the Dean of Texas Tech and this dude are the two biggest hucksters on this board. Turns out that the MCL dean used to work at TT also. Cut from the same cloth those two.

Come on man. SPerez doesn't deserve to be associated with this guy.

One might be slightly less shitty than the other, but they're both bad enough for me not to care about gradation.

[oblitigate]

There's this guy from the same thread pretending to be the Dean four-years ago, adding some credibility to the troll possibility (and I must admit I find him to be an excellent writer):

LawBoy wrote:
Because the ABA requires that an ABA accredited school hire a fixed percentage of full-time law professors to students (15 to 1, 12 to 1 are numbers that are thought to be current, but the actual number is a secret!), and pay a minimum salary, schools like Monterey College of Law (MCL) will ever be accredited; they hire only part-time professors, who are lawyers and judges in real life. The school operates only at night, and by my estimate carries about 130 students at any given time. Full-time professors are not an option for this school.

Because the ABA has a requirement that an accredited school carry a fixed number of volume of books in its law library, a number that is not a reality for a school of 130 students who attend school about 12 hours per week, MCL will never gain accreditation.

At an ABA school you will not likely get the personalized attention from your professors that you find at MCL. When you pass the bar and finally open a practice or join a firm you will know quite a few actual practicing local attorneys who are already familiar with you.

That first time you step into a courtroom and have to face a judge, it sure does not hurt that last summer it was this very judge who taught you courtroom procedures and practice.

Yes MCL might be for you if you plan to practice in California and not out of state. MCL might be for you if this is not your first career and you do not plan to take a job that requires 75 hours a week as a new attorney would expect. MCL might be for you if you do not want to have a student loan debt that matches the national budget of a small third world nation.

Many people who go to MCL never plan to take the bar and become an attorney; they cannot afford the pay cut from their current jobs as CEO, doctors, dentists, bankers etc.

When you read that MCL who is pushing 30 years of service to their community has “still not” gained ABA acceptance, consider this; MCL does NOT want to take that road. ABA accreditation would be the death nell for schools like MCL; it would drive the prices way up, would require a huge growth in the student population that is unrealistic for a community based law school and would take the focus off the goal of MCL; to provide a quality education at realistic prices producing lawyers who will benefit their community and not simply leave the area to work for Goldman Sachs, Exxon, or Enron.

I graduated from MCL 13 years ago, am licensed in California, and the US Supreme Court. I am a partner in a local law firm, left MCL with no debt; appear in court at over 30 hearings per month. Only once has a potential client asked me what law school I attended. I told him, and helped him with his legal issue. I am happy to say that HE will be graduating from MCL in just about a month. I made many friends at MCL who are still an important part of my life. Very often the lawyer at the other table is also a graduate of MCL, it never hurts.

Those MCL alumni tho

[MCL Law Dean]

Glad to have provided entertainment for the past several pages of bashing, but as I previously explained, it is no less than I expect from the loyal band of TLS protectors of the realm. I get it and you can have at it.

In the mean time, in collaboration with our local Superior Court and the County Bar Association, MCL has announced three new low-bono, modest means clinics (to add to our existing five free advisory legal clinics) that will be staffed by our students to serve more of the underepresented and at-risk in our community. We are also partnering with the Superior Court, a local legal services corporation, and the Veterans Transition Center to conduct a Veterans Court and provide expungement services for area homeless veterans (a significant problem for our area). 100% of our students participate in our clinical programs.

FYI, for those who haven't had corporations yet, MCL is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational institution operated under the oversight of a local fiduciary board that currently includes, among others, four Superior Court judges and the County Counsel . . . so transparency is not a problem. We have budgets and pay rent, salaries, insurance, and utilities . . . and conduct an audit every year to report to the accreditors. So yes, we are a business that balances revenue and expenses. Our biggest difference is that excess revenue is invested back into the program and not paid out to private owners or shareholders.

[Mal Reynolds]

Always enjoyable to see the scam dean argue against the people levying the critiques of his school rather than respond substantively.

[bjsesq]

How about you respond to some of the critiques then trot out your wannabe martyr shtick?

[Ricky-Bobby]

. . . so transparency is not a problem. We have budgets and pay rent, salaries, insurance, and utilities . . . and conduct an audit every year to report to the accreditors. So yes, we are a business that balances revenue and expenses.

Where can I find all of this info?

[MCL Law Dean]

. . . so transparency is not a problem. We have budgets and pay rent, salaries, insurance, and utilities . . . and conduct an audit every year to report to the accreditors. So yes, we are a business that balances revenue and expenses.

Where can I find all of this info?

All 501(c)3 non-profits file an annual 990 tax report with the IRS. It is public record.