Legal Education
Mass. State Bar Admits 1st Graduate of Online Law School
Posted Jun 26, 2009 10:29 AM CST
By Martha Neil
For the first time ever, a graduate of an Internet-based law school has been admitted to practice in Massachusetts.
Ross Mitchell was sworn in June 22, reports the National Law Journal. He earned his juris doctor degree at Concord Law School, which offers law classes online rather than in a bricks-and-mortar classroom.
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, Mitchell successfully filed suit against the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts to win permission last year to take the Massachusetts bar.
"I don't plan to hang out a shingle per se," Mitchell, who works out of Newton, Mass., as a computer consultant, tells the legal publication. "What I see myself doing is pretty much making myself available to take on interesting projects you need to be lawyer to do."
Additional coverage:
Boston Herald: "Web degree no bar for this lawyer"
- How B of A’s GC Got Fired: Leave Now, and Leave Your BlackBerry Behind
- Schools Ranked by 'Super Lawyers' Produced
- Law Firm Price Wars Break Out as Some Try ‘Loss Leader’ Bids for Work
- Five Questions for Law Firms Abandoning Lockstep Compensation
- Judge Jails 2 Attorneys for Contempt in 4 Days
- Reed Smith Will Ask Nonequity Partners to Pony Up Possibly 15% of Pay
- Court Deputy Ordered to Apologize or Face Jail After Taking Lawyer's Paperwork
- Skadden Jumps on the Bonus Bandwagon
- ABA Executive Director Resigns
- Nasty Attitude to Co-Worker, Naughty Word in E-Mail Cost 2 Their Jobs
Should Supreme Court Justices Be Able to Review News Accounts Before Publication?
Comments
James
Jun 26, 2009 1:07 PM CST
Me thinks that the justices of the mass. supreme court got their degrees from an online law school based on this shoddy opinion. Distance learning??? How about lasyiness learning. This bum just didn’t want to get out from in front of his computer.
Flag this comment
B-Law
Jun 26, 2009 7:28 PM CST
From what he said, his law degree is just as useless to him as a real brick-and-mortal law degree is to me and the rest of my fellow recent graduates right now. But, he probably has a fraction the debt.
Flag this comment
Denise Davis
Jun 27, 2009 5:19 AM CST
It seems the above opinions are just that opinions, because distance online education is more difficult than on campus in classroom setting. I have done both. Passing the California Bar Exam on the first take in my opinion qualifies Mr. Ross to sit for the exam in any other state. The law should be changed. It will not be long before ABA accredited law schools will have to offer online programs to stay in business.
Flag this comment
Bryan Georgiady
Jul 1, 2009 1:54 PM CST
#3’s prediction about online law schools is scary. They ought to shut down.
I get the sense that if every tier III and tier IV law school shut its doors tomorrow society would never notice their absence.
And, thousands of gullible students would be able to save the thousands of dollars (and years of effort) spent for a degree worth less than the paper it’s printed on.
Flag this comment
Add a Comment
We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy.
Commenting has expired on this post.