Mid-Atlantic School of Law

[passaroa25]

Is anyone out there studying under this school?  What is your experience?  Do you read all the cases discussed in each Gilbert's volume on Lexis or Google Scholar?

[Cicero]

This program kind of makes me sick. I looked it up and they are going to award people JDs for completing 15 modules/courses. Apparently the "textbook" for each class is a supplement. This program makes JDs look like a joke or some sort of AA. It obviously has nothing to do with the ABA, and they should call the degree a "JD certificate", not a JD.

[passaroa25]

I have read some of the Gilberts outlines.  They are very helpful.  They explain what the law is and cite the cases where the black letter law comes from.  I found them to be much more helpful than the hornbooks.  Therefore, if someone reads the outlines and briefs each case that is in each Gilberts volume, he/she will actually learn the law.  A J.D. from this school along with an LLM could turn a student into an attorney.  Does anyone have any experience with this school's customer service or mentors?

[calvinexpress]

They dont have a phone number with a live person on the end. It's a voice mail.

[Cicero]

I have read some of the Gilberts outlines.  They are very helpful.  They explain what the law is and cite the cases where the black letter law comes from.  I found them to be much more helpful than the horn books.  Therefore, if someone reads the outlines and briefs each case that is in each Gilberts volume, he/she will actually learn the law.  A J.D. from this school along with an LLM could turn a student into an attorney.

Yes, they are very helpful as supplements to be used after reading the horn books if you still don't understand what is going on or while working on your class outline. However, part of going to law school is learning to think like a lawyer (so cliche and overused, I know), and this process involves a lot of analysis. Reading the cases is one way to help with this process, especially 1st year, because you have to learn to pull out the rule and how to apply it, and this is something reading Gilbert's doesn't teach you how to do. There may be lots of supplements, but they are always behind the times a little bit. Say for example you are working on a case and some new decision comes down. You need to be able to critically read and analyze the decision because it could have an important impact on your case. Sure you can read the case summary, but those are always incomplete. It seems like this method could help a student learn the black letter law, but it could also seriously handicap the student when he/she gets to the real world.

[passaroa25]

I learned to think like a lawyer after reading Tim Tyler's book on passing the Baby Bar.  And, this was after reading two casebooks on Contracts, Criminal Law, and Torts.  I read one casebook on Constitutional Law.  The telephone number with no live support does concern me.  But, this school doesn't appear to be any different from the distance learning law schools registered with the California State Bar.  Nor does it seem to be any different from Novus. 

[arcandersen]

I know that this post is kindof stale, but I wanted an opinion on this from the community. I really think that this type of program would work for someone like me. I'm 1 year away from completing my LL.B from Northumbra and am looking into LL.M (Information Technology and IP) options. I don't have any ambitions of sitting for the Bar (yet) as my ambitions are to further my career as an executive information technology consultant. I know a great deal about research and "thinking" like a lawyer, so this style of self-directed study would work for someone who is trying to round our their understanding of the American legal system.

I do think that the States and ABA should take a more holistic approach to evaluating ones fitness to sit for a Bar. I believe that a LL.B with an LL.M or some type of newly created short course should be sufficent to sit for a Bar. The point of the Bar is to measure ones knowledge of the law right? Doesn't passage mean that you are compentent?

Thoughts

[passaroa25]

I chose Mid-Atlantic because my primary goal is to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the law as economically as possible.  Mid-Atlantic provides that opportunity.  Since I have already taken the FYLSE once, Mid-Atlantic allows me to go all the way through without having to worry about when I should take the FYLSE again.  There are some students, however, who are simply reading and providing a summary of each Gilbert outline without reading the cases cited in each of the volumes.  That doesn't make sense to me.  At the present time, all online law school degrees are considered second class.  Why have a second class degree with no substantial knowledge of the law to back it up? 

Mid-Atlantic also gives me the opportunity to write a book of court opinions and statutes, in California, on domestic violence.  This will give any lawyer synthesized court opinions all in one place.

If all you care about is the pursuit of knowledge, with the guarantee that sometime in the future your Mid-Atlantic final project will be recognized by the legal community, then Mid-Atlantic is for you. 

It is just my opinion, but I don't think that earning a J.D. from Mid-Atlantic by reading the Gilbert volumes alone is a good idea.  Mid-Atlantic is an excellent supplement for someone with an LLB because it is based on American law.  And, at $1500.00, the price is right.

[passaroa25]

By the way, if you are a year away from completing an LLB, then you "are done."  Just take a Barbri class for the New York or California bar.  I don't remember the other states who accept foreign law degrees.  Download the Comprehensive Guide and see chart III.