Law School Question

[Guest WyattEarp]

I know the Nashville School of Law lets you go to school in the evening and part time, but it's a non-accredited Law School, meaning you can only get a license to practice in the state of Tennessee once you pass the bar exam.

Are there any accredited law schools that will allow you to go to law school part time so you can take the bar exam and get a license anywhere you go and practice law (if you move)? I don't plan to live in Tennessee forever.

It's something I'm considering, I seem to be pretty decent at law research (as some of you may have noticed) and bringing objective arguments and viewpoints to situations and discussions.

I want to take a few years off from school after I graduate with my Bachelors, but if I go to law school, I don't want to go full time. ADHD, short term memory would play too much havoc on a 15-18 credit hour load for me to go full time, plus I'd have to be working a full time job to pay my bills and student loans for what I currently have.

[JReedEsq]

University of Denver offers both a 3 year and a 4 year program. I though I'd like to live in CO but University of Colorado, Oregon and UT all had better rankings academically. I came back home for law school at UT, met my wife and now I'm probably stuck in Knoxville forever. I'd definitely recommend an accredited school. The job market for young lawyers is hard enough already. If you want to be a litigator you'd better have thick skin and expect that nearly everyone you talk to all day will be upset about something.

Edited October 27, 2011 by JReedEsq

[Guest WyattEarp]

University of Denver offers both a 3 year and a 4 year program. It was on my list before I decided I'd like to come back home to UT. I'd definitely recommend an accredited school. The job market for young lawyers is hard enough already. If you want to be a litigator you'd better have thick skin and expect that nearly everyone you talk to all day will be upset about something.

that's great info JreedEsq. thank you.

I'm not sure I want to be a litigator, and it's definitely not my goal to be a big rich and famous attorney.

This may sound crazy to some, because law school is expensive, but I'd take light cases (traffic tickets, small claims cases, maybe help someone out with a will, or small dispute over a lease agreement), and when I reach the point where I retire from my primary career, I'd like to spend my time helping single fathers who may not have the financial resources, ensure their rights to be involved in their childrens lives and have a say so in things involving their children, and being an advocate for fathers rights.

And yes, i'd definitely want an accredited school.

[MikePapa1]

Belmont's new law school is accredited. I don't know that they do part time, however. Accreditation isn't really that big a deal, frankly. The reason NSL isn't accredited is because its library is too small and it has too high a percentage of practicing attorneys as Professors. My law school was accredited, though that was LONG ago, but my wife went to NSL and I attended some classes and it is a good quality law school. After practicing 5 years, you can seek reciprocity anywhere you could with an accredited school.

[Guest WyattEarp]

Belmont's new law school is accredited. I don't know that they do part time, however. Accreditation isn't really that big a deal, frankly. The reason NSL isn't accredited is because its library is too small and it has too high a percentage of practicing attorneys as Professors. My law school was accredited, though that was LONG ago, but my wife went to NSL and I attended some classes and it is a good quality law school. After practicing 5 years, you can seek reciprocity anywhere you could with an accredited school.

Yeah, I knew that NSL wasn't because of it's library, but I guess I really don't understand what the size of a library has to do with being accredited?

With the internet nowadays, legal research can be done without the use or need for a library. I'm sure it's some white collar trump card that gets played in regards to a school being accredited or not.

How does the reciprocity thing work?