A Glimmer of Hope for J.D.'s Earned Via Online Study

[passaroa25]

"Surfing Past the Pall of Orthodoxy:  Why the First Amendment Virtually Guarantees Online Law School Graduates will Breach the ABA Accreditation Barrier" by Nick Dranias, http://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/1948.

"States that restrict bar eligibility to graduates of ABA-accredited law schools punish graduates of online JD programs because they engaged in online educational communication, devalue educational communication and association over the Internet.  As a result, the amount of protected Internet speech and association is diminished in favor of traditional face-to-face communication and association.

"Such media discrimination is vulnerable to First Amendment attack under theories that seek to protect liberty of circulation, academic freedom, and access to the legal profession."

Just as attorneys were not allowed to advertise years ago; and now they can, maybe being allowed to sit for the bar exam in any state for those of us who study law online might be in our future.

[haus]

I imagine that one day the lockout from the bar will start to wane for those who pursue their law education online.

At the same time I expect that this process will be very slow in coming. I also suspect that many in the legal community will deride the efforts for those who choose such a path long after the removal of restrictions.

[passaroa25]

I think, though, that once you pass the bar exam, regardless of where your JD came from, it doesn't matter what other people think; especially if you read enough cases to become a walking Restatement of the law on Contracts, Property, Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Torts, Evidence, etc. The legal community is 90% reputation, 10% the law school you attended.