ABA has a monopoly on Law Schools.

[ShangChi]

I don't see how the ABA has lasted as long as it has by dictating what legal education should or shouldn't be. It is run by a bunch of elitists who have a strong hold on the courts in general. I think that if someone were to really challenge the ABA via the Supreme Court of the USA, there might be a change in online law schools and correspondence schools. Some states have done away with the ABA requirement and the quality of lawyers haven't changed. IF a person can pass the bar they should be a stinkin lawyer, if a person can successfully fly and land an airplane they are a pilot. So what's the difference?  I say get rid of the ABA and more less fortunate people can become stinkin lawyers and challenge the elitists.

[Cicero]

Being a lawyer is a huge responsibility, and there should be some standardization. Law school teaches you more than how to pass the bar. The bar, while very difficult because it covers so many subjects, is supposed to be on a more basic level.

Which group of less fortunate people are you talking about? If you are talking about cost, there are some very inexpensive ABA approved law schools. There are also loans, which most of us take out in order to go to law school. If you are talking about LSAT scores, the minimum is comparable to what you will need to be able to go to graduate school (top 50-60%) and you can take the LSAT multiple times.

By the way, there are different types of pilots. A person who can fly a Cessna isn't necessarily qualified to be a commercial airline pilot or to fly a helicopter. The training is different for the different types of licenses just as the training at an online program would be somewhat different from an in-class JD. I'm not sure how an online program can effectively teach some of the things one learns in an in-class setting.

[the white rabbit]

I don't see how the ABA has lasted as long as it has by dictating what legal education should or shouldn't be.

Well the answer to this is that the people who make the decisions are generally on the same page as the ABA. 

Also, you throw around the term "elitist" as if it automatically wins you your argument.  It does not.

[bigs5068]

Can you believe that people have the nerve to regulate the medical profession also. I know when I go to a doctor to operate on my body I don't really care if they went to some kind of regulated school or a Haitian vodoo med school . As long as their degree says M.D. even if they personally wrote their own degree in crayon I know it is legitimate because it says M.D..

The ABA has standards and that is why it is around. If a school f's up they will and have put them on probation. That is why the ABA is around, because it is regulating body that has a long list of regulations. It is not perfect, but it is necessary.

[barond]

I agree that the ABA ought to be ferociously sued for deceptive advertising, fraudulent practices, and other wrongdoing arising out of ABA business practices.

However, a worse yet epidemic is these frivilous online 'colleges'.  Anyone getting an online degree might as well not get any education. How that junk infiltrated education is outrageous. Do these 'students' pay tuition equivalent to a legitimate school with proper accreditation? Online law schools should be done away with.

[bigs5068]

Online schools for some people, but it is not ideal. Some people have disabilites and need to go to CBA or Online schools again it is not perfect, but not everybody is from rich white families and in perfect health. I know a guy who is now a lawyer who got a 173 on his LSAT, but he is legally blind and can't leave the area he is in. He had to go to a CBA school because he cannot function outside of the city he is in. He is a good lawyer though and can work fine if he gets to a school or office. He is probably smarter than anyone on this board and he has won numerous cases, but he has to deal adversarity, which the majority of people talking out of their ass on this board and myself included have never really dealt with.

[sonofapickle.]

retard.

[pacelaw2013]

When does it come out? I wonder which school will be Boardwalk, Harvard or Yale?

[pacelaw2013]

Oh, and by the way the ABA was sued by a school (Massachusetts School of Law) and won. The fact is, especially with law, you do need a regulatory body. Medicine needs one to keep away hack doctors, and the law needs one to keep out hack lawyers.

Law is one of those things where almost everyone in undergrad thinks they can do well in and master (you need not look past BLaw 1 where students argue rediculous points with the teacher). The problem is, not everyone can. Nor SHOULD everyone practice law.

In order for lawyers to be beleived there needs to be some sort of prestige to the title, otherwise, everyone will just do it themselves. If everyone who wants to go to law school is allowed, it turns into a little more prestigous than a community college. Not saying anything against CCs, but law schools are at a different level. Can you imagine, Bunker Hill Community College School of Law?

The bar tests MINIMAL skills. Why allow this less fortunate students to pay 10K-15K a year for a hack law school like we see in California that have 10-15% bar passage rates. Even Massachusetts school of law is somewhere in the 30% range according to a former teacher of mine that went there. Is that justified?

These minimums are there for a reason, its not elitists trying to keep people out, rather than to only allow the serious canidates in.

[bigs5068]

True the reality is if you go to law school and don't pass the bar your J.D. is almost useless.  The ABA - regulates the bar and makes sure any ABA school they accredit is capable of having graduates pass the bar at a high rate.  It is not a perfect system, but it is better to have to go through some kind of regulations etc to become a certified to appear in court and be a "Real" lawyer.

People can make it from CBA schools or Massachussets School of Law. The ABA regulates the CBA schools by making students pass the Baby Bar after their first year as they should. No school should let someone blow through 100,000 and 3 years of their life if it is pretty obvious they can't pass the bar. The ABA prevents that from happening at an outrageous number although it does still occur.