Taft or Concord Law School

[Marauder]

Any opinions on either school mentioned above?

[sollicitus]

Concord is regionally accredited. Taft isn't.

You can get some govt aid for Concord, Good look at a DETC school.

Other than that, both are only good in CA. If you are ok with that then I'd go with Concord.
Just don't fall for the EJD BS if you do.

PS
That minibar kills 3/4 of it's own. Fear it.

Why not just buckle down and get into an ABA school?

[calgal27]

Hi.  I attempted Taft.  I lasted 6 weeks.  I am 46.  I am not looking at law school as a career but rather just to learn the law.

I did not feel the instructors at Taft gave criticism specifically to my work.  For example, I would brief a case and get 3/4.  Well, that is 75%.  I would ask what I did wrong or where I could improve, and the response was "canned.". The response did not say anything specific related to my work, but rather the response would work for anyone's work.

I think a better choice might be California School of Law because you have to attend class online 2 nights a week.  There is also the new St. Francis School of Law.  Concord is expensive and you get the same online law degree that you would get from any online law school.  If you want to go the cheap route, try Northwestern California School of Law.  Cheap and you get the exact same recognition as you would going to Taft or Concored for 1/4 the cost.

Good luck!

[Marauder]

Does local, state and federal employment recognize Concord's or Taft law degrees? I also need to work f/t while attending law school, so B&M schools are not an option for me. 

@Calgal27 when did you attend Taft?  Did you feel the admittance to the school was very liberal?

[passaroa25]

Keep in mind that whichever school you choose, you will have to learn a huge amount of material in a year so that you can pass the FYLSE on the first try.  You will have to know much more about contracts, torts, and criminal law than any brick and mortar first year law school student.    If you don't live in California, add flight, hotel, and meal expenses for every time you need to take the exam again.   

[john4040]

Don't go to either.  You can thank me later.

[sollicitus]

Hi.  I attempted Taft.  I lasted 6 weeks.  I am 46.  I am not looking at law school as a career but rather just to learn the law.

I did not feel the instructors at Taft gave criticism specifically to my work.  For example, I would brief a case and get 3/4.  Well, that is 75%.  I would ask what I did wrong or where I could improve, and the response was "canned.". The response did not say anything specific related to my work, but rather the response would work for anyone's work.

I think a better choice might be California School of Law because you have to attend class online 2 nights a week.  There is also the new St. Francis School of Law.  Concord is expensive and you get the same online law degree that you would get from any online law school.  If you want to go the cheap route, try Northwestern California School of Law.  Cheap and you get the exact same recognition as you would going to Taft or Concored for 1/4 the cost.

Good luck!

Not true. Regionally accredited schools get more respect and many employers have policies to refuse to hire none regional grads, since they view detc as "nonaccredited". (even though the dept of ed feels otherwise)

[sollicitus]

Does local, state and federal employment recognize Concord's or Taft law degrees? I also need to work f/t while attending law school, so B&M schools are not an option for me. 

@Calgal27 when did you attend Taft?  Did you feel the admittance to the school was very liberal?

ask them. Each dept has it's own standard.

As a general rule though, no they do not. It is not ABA. Most require that.
If you are looking to just get promoted have you considered a regionally accredited masters in law?
Most will view that better than a non aba JD.

[GovLaw]

Taft is DETC accredited, which (while not regional) is better than nothing - some of the online schools have no legitimate accreditation.  I work for state government, in my experience the precedence for consideration for those legal positions which do not require admittance to the bar is as follows:

1) B&M ABA accredited law degree and bar passage.
2) B&M accredited (not ABA) law degree and bar passage
3) B&M ABA accredited law degree without bar
4) Online accredited (not ABA) law degree and bar passage
5) B&M accredited (not ABA) law degree without bar
6) Online accredited (not ABA) law degree without bar
7) Any law degree without any accreditation and without bar (generally not even recognized)

For positions requiring admittance to the bar (assuming otherwise bar eligible):

1) B&M ABA accredited law degree and bar passage.
2) B&M accredited (not ABA) law degree and bar passage
3) Online accredited (not ABA) law degree and bar passage

Education not acceptable for positions requiring admittance to the bar (even if otherwise bar eligible):

1) B&M ABA accredited law degree without bar
2) B&M accredited (not ABA) law degree without bar
3) Online accredited (not ABA) law degree without bar
4) Any law degree without any accreditation, either with or without bar

This just reflects my experience and talking to other working professionals in state government who have knowledge in this area – YMMV.  Good luck in whatever you do.

[Maintain FL 350]

Most government legal jobs will probably not consider graduates of either school. I recently worked a government law office in California and all of the recent hires were either former interns from ABA schools or experienced attorneys from ABA schools. Hiring is so competitive right now that government offices have the luxury of being very picky.

If a Taft or Concord grad passed the baby bar, passed the bar, worked solo for, say, five years and built up lots of good trial and transactional experience, then applied to government job . . . well, maybe. Still a longshot. I would contact each school and ask how many graduates are working in government.

I don't know where the OP is located, but many ABA and all CBE school offer part-time programs for students who work full time. I started law school in my early thirties with a family, a mortgage, the works. I'll graduate from an ABA part-time program in a few weeks. It is a grind, but it can be done!