Novus University School of Law

[DO/JD]

Hi Scott, thanks for your last reply

I will try to make my question more clear.

If a student lives in Florida and wishes to practice Immigration law, that is be able to represent clients before USCIS without direct supervision of a licensed attorney, and do this by studying in Novus law school, it seems like, for all practical purposes, would not to be possible.

The Novus' program which will permit someone to practice immigration law [as defined above] would be the "apprentice" program which would require that the student studies under the supervision of a licensed attorney in one of the seven states* that allow it. As you may see, for someone who resides in a state distant from the seven states* , this requirement for bar admission would be practically impossible. Please advise and thanks in advance.

DO/JD

[NovusComServices]

Immigration and naturalization are now under Homeland Security to represent a client before immigration courts you must either be an attorney or a certain non-profit agencies can represent individuals. You can review these requirements by going to website published by Immigration and Naturalization.


Please review this information from the Immigration and Naturalization website.

Attorneys

Attorneys must be a member in good standing of the “bar” of a U.S. State (or U.S. possession, territory, Commonwealth, or the District of Columbia) and not be under any court order restricting their practice of law. Attorneys will check the first block on Form G-28 and must provide information regarding their admission to practice. The best way to protect yourself is to ask to see the current attorney licensing document for the attorney, make a note of the admission number if any, and to contact the State bar admission authorities to verify the information. A lawfully admitted attorney should honor your request for this information, as State Bar practice rules require disclosure of this information to clients. You may also access this information through the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC) website. See the Ethics link, then click on Bar Associations and Disciplinary Authorities.
Accredited Representatives

Accredited representatives must work for a Recognized Organization in order to be eligible to represent you before USCIS and file a Form G-28. They may be authorized to practice before the Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and/or USCIS. The best way to protect yourself is to ask to see a copy of the BIA decision granting official recognition to the Accredited Representative and Recognized Organization. Recognized organizations may only charge nominal fees, if any, for providing services in immigration matters. An accredited representative of a recognized organization should honor your request. You may also check the Recognition Accreditation Roster maintained by the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR.)

While other individuals (notary publics and immigration consultants) may assist you by filling in the blanks on pre-printed USCIS forms with information provided by you, these individuals may NOT represent you before USCIS. In addition, notary publics and immigration consultants may only charge nominal fees as regulated by state law. Individuals helping you in this way are required by law to disclose to USCIS their assistance by completing the section at the bottom of a petition or application concerning the “Preparer” of the form.

Scott Andrews
Community Services
Novus Law School

[DO/JD]

Hi

That is precisely what I communicated before. You must be a member of a "bar" in order to practice this type of law without the direct supervision of a licensed attorney or under the umbrella of an accredited representative/organization. However, to do this with Novus law school, a student would need to pursue Novus' "apprentice" program. This program, only allows you to be bar eligible in seven states. Furthermore, all these states require that this "apprentice" program be completed in person at the lawyers/judge's office. This, therefore, would mean that for someone not located in these seven states, Novus' "apprentice" program would be of no benefit if their ultimate goal is to practice a type of law that reguires "bar" membership such as immigration law. I hope that is more clear.

Immigration and naturalization are now under Homeland Security to represent a client before immigration courts you must either be an attorney or a certain non-profit agencies can represent individuals. You can review these requirements by going to website published by Immigration and Naturalization.


Please review this information from the Immigration and Naturalization website.

Attorneys

Attorneys must be a member in good standing of the “bar” of a U.S. State (or U.S. possession, territory, Commonwealth, or the District of Columbia) and not be under any court order restricting their practice of law. Attorneys will check the first block on Form G-28 and must provide information regarding their admission to practice. The best way to protect yourself is to ask to see the current attorney licensing document for the attorney, make a note of the admission number if any, and to contact the State bar admission authorities to verify the information. A lawfully admitted attorney should honor your request for this information, as State Bar practice rules require disclosure of this information to clients. You may also access this information through the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC) website. See the Ethics link, then click on Bar Associations and Disciplinary Authorities.
Accredited Representatives

Accredited representatives must work for a Recognized Organization in order to be eligible to represent you before USCIS and file a Form G-28. They may be authorized to practice before the Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and/or USCIS. The best way to protect yourself is to ask to see a copy of the BIA decision granting official recognition to the Accredited Representative and Recognized Organization. Recognized organizations may only charge nominal fees, if any, for providing services in immigration matters. An accredited representative of a recognized organization should honor your request. You may also check the Recognition Accreditation Roster maintained by the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR.)

While other individuals (notary publics and immigration consultants) may assist you by filling in the blanks on pre-printed USCIS forms with information provided by you, these individuals may NOT represent you before USCIS. In addition, notary publics and immigration consultants may only charge nominal fees as regulated by state law. Individuals helping you in this way are required by law to disclose to USCIS their assistance by completing the section at the bottom of a petition or application concerning the “Preparer” of the form.

Scott Andrews
Community Services
Novus Law School

[NovusComServices]

In addition to the seven states the District of Columbia could be considered because they require Non-ABA JD graduates to complete 26 units at an ABA school to qualify to take the DC bar. Further, a number of states including Iowa, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. Allow graduates of Non-ABA schools who have passed the bar in another state to take the bar exam without additional legal education. Like Florida these states have time practices requirements from anywhere from two to seven years. In conclusion, you were correct that a person must be a member of a bar or an accredited representative in order to practice immigration law. However, again many individual practices online from particular states and a number of individuals function as immigration consultants or specialists. So the primary options would still be to practice in one of the seven states or DC or work for an accredited organization or establish an accredited organization or to become eligible in other states by virtue of practice. Again, Novus Law School is an alternative law school and individuals must determine if they want to practice law to meet the requirements and practice within that jurisdiction with eligibility coming with additional practice. I hope this answers your question and I do agree with you in part. However, the opportunity to practice in a specialized field like any career opportunity may require relocation and if an individual desires this opportunity then are objective is to provide them with information directly from the sources of there options. This information is taken from:

http://www.ncbex.org/comprehensive-guide-to-bar-admissions/


Scott Andrews
Community Services
Novus Law School

[DO/JD]

Slightly an aside,

do you know of any feasible way a student could complete Novus' apprenticeship program without residing in one of the seven states? Thanks.

[NovusComServices]

Slightly an aside,

do you know of any feasible way a student could complete Novus' apprenticeship program without residing in one of the seven states? Thanks.

We have researched this and we know of no way that an individual can complete without residing in the state and working with an attorney or judge licensed in that state.

Scott Andrews
Community Services
Novus Law School

[esquiremd900]

From: generalcounsel@nulaw.org  Add to Address Book  Add Mobile Alert 
To: esquiremd900@yahoo.com
CC: generalcounsel@nulaw.org
     
   
Dear Law Discussion Poster:

This letter is in regards to defamation's concerning Novus Law School. Due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which provides that "[no] provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider," and that "[n]o cause of action may be brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is inconsistent with this section." This means that  Novus Law School can not sue  Law School Discussion ,however we can sue you.

Your posting states, esquiremd900

“It was my understanding that it was a sham law school. That thier degree does not allow you to sit for any bars and that the two owners live in Europe. I would not suggest it. Google them online.... and you will be able to locate the suits that were filed for the fraud.�

You can Google and there are no such lawsuits or frauds, however many people have called us asking about this statement. Novus Law School may have in fact suffered losses both economic and to its reputation as a result of this posting.

It does not take an in-depth investigation to determine these are outright lies ,even the most elementary investigation will show that.We see how you have tried to through clever use of words diminish your libel,however we believe that we can prove libel in a court of law and once a suit is filed we will seek your true identity from Yahoo.

In the entire 10 years that Novus Law School has been in existence, not a single lawsuit or charge has been brought against the school for anything and no charges or lawsuits have been filed against Novus Law School for anything on a state or federal level and Novus Law School has No unresolved consumer complaints, with the BBB or consumer affairs of any state or country.

I can be contacted by phone at 661-674-6571 or by email at GeneralCounsel@nulaw.org I am General in-house counsel for Novus Law School


Respectfully,

Jay Thomas
General Counsel
Novus Law School

[allthngsntrl]

I have a question. I live in Virginia. How would this program help me in taking the bar. I spoke with another law school Dean who advised that he is familiar with a student who completed this program, attended an ABA approved law school taking 25 hours and then took the DC bar and passed. I am not sure if I am reading the criteria correctly for VA but it seems that on the Bar website you can work under the supervision on an attorney in VA and then be bar eligible without any classes. I would like a program that I could complete through either distance learning and or correspondence as I work under andattorney. Does anyone have any suggestions or help with this. I do not have time to go to traditional law school and am not sure I could pass the LSAT. I am exploring two career options this and nursing. What a radical difference. I am not looking for an easy way out or anything like that I am willing to study but also can not afford to go to CA to take the baby bar nor the bar at the end of a CA program. Thanks for your help. I like their program it is very detailed but do not want to spend the money if I cant do anything with it.

[galex]

Virginia is one of those states where you can "read" for the law, but my understanding is its *extremely* rare for someone to actually do this successfully.(BTW--have you asked your attorney if he/she'd be willing to make that kind of committment to you?)  Try contacting the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners http://www.vbbe.state.va.us/ before going any farther along this route as they may have additional qualifying information.

I would definitely advise you to go ahead and at least take a timed practice LSAT before dismissing this route entirely--and rumor has it that it's one of those tests where people can dramatically improve their score if they work at it.

If you do pretty well with the LSAT, there is at least one school in Virginia that offers a part-time option with some classes held at night (Richmond.)  You might want to check if George Mason offers this option as well if you're in NOVA. UVa doesn't, and I don't think W&M does either. 

[dolcerenee]

I am a bit confused about the Novus Program. I reside in Florida and am wondering what is the structure of the program? Would I have to have a supervising attorney to complete my studies or are all studies completed online?