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#How Online Education Is Impacting the Legal Industry

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The legal industry has historically been slow to change. Lawyers and paraprofessionals are risk-averse, and law schools typically use traditional instruction techniques to educate new generations of practitioners. However, the advent of online education and its massive success is throwing traditions in legal education into question.

Law schools and online education

In 2013 the American Bar Association (ABA) Task Force on the Future of Legal Education recommended that law schools make better use of technology, including online education resources. Various commentators have noted that law professors are essentially discouraged from using new techniques, texts or other materials in their classrooms.

Now there are several online law schools operating, St. Francis School of Law. for example, but as yet they are not ABA accredited. Other schools such as Case Western are offering hybrid programs and massive open online courses MOOCs, but these too also lack accreditation. However, enrollment in law school is dropping across the board. and schools across the country are struggling to evolve in order to survive.

One of the immediate changes we can expect to see on the law school front is a more defined stratification. according to Nora Demleitner at Washington and Lee University School of Law. She argues the very small top tier of schools will continue to produce graduates who nab the best clerkships and firm positions. Schools in this tier will grow even more expensive than they have been in the past as the most qualified candidates compete to attend them. Less privileged schools will be more focused on practice tips and trial work, and will probably also be more willing to take advantage of technology in the classroom.

Lawyers and legal professionals using online education

Online education does have a major impact on law schools, but the effects are not always immediately apparent. The standards for teaching law students are set by the ABA s Standard 306 and have remained mostly the same for the last 100 years. Students need approximately 90 credit hours to graduate, and no more than 12 of these hours can be from online courses. None of these 12 hours can be taken during the 1L year of school, and online hours must be spread out over the remaining semesters so that no more than four hours per semester are taken online.

Schools must adhere to Standard 306 to achieve and maintain ABA accreditation. Accreditation is crucial because most states will not permit anyone to sit for the local bar exam without proof of graduation from an ABA accredited school.

James A. Davids, J.D. Ph.D. is the director of the LLM and MA programs at Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach where he is also an associate professor. Davids explains the problem his school (and others) face: “With law school applicants declining, many schools like Regent are enrolling fewer students. We do not want to dilute our student talent base and cause our bar passage rate to fall. We also believe it is a form of theft to take tuition from a student who we believe does not have a reasonable chance of passing a bar exam and becoming eligible to practice law.”

Regent also works to create new areas of study, ensuring placement for teachers in shrinking J.D. programs. These Master of Arts in Law programs allow students to specialize in areas that interest them and gain focused knowledge in the space of one year. These programs do not require accreditation so their classes are ideal for online delivery.

When asked which students are served by the Master of Arts in Law program, Davids points out that many students are interested in law but do not plan to practice, while others are already practicing lawyers seeking to become experts in a certain practice area.

The Master of Arts in Law program is only one year long and does not require residency, so it is significantly lower in cost than most J.D. degrees. “Our MA in Law program fills the niche for those persons who want to study law, and want to benefit from the legal training provided, but do not want to practice law,” remarks Davids.

Why does the ABA restrict online education?

Davids offers several insights into the ABA s close restrictions of online education: “First of all, not many influential people in the ABA (most of them lawyers) ever had online education. Second, many are suspicious of online education, since lack of face-to-face accountability can allow students to hide in the weeds. Third, learning the law is very much an immersion process, much like learning a new language. The more exposure you have (like in an on-campus environment), the quicker you learn it.”

The future of legal education

One important force that will shape the future of online legal education is the outlook of the new generation of law students. New lawyers and current law students have different ideas about online education than previous generations of lawyers do, and they more likely to embrace online legal education. Davids points out, “This is evident in that our few online J.D. courses fill up very quickly; remember, we can offer only a very limited number of online JD classes.”

Another crucial factor that will increase demand for online classes in J.D. programs is the increased emphasis on experiential learning: instead of studying isolated in a classroom or library, students benefit more from working in actual offices and in courts. This means students must continue their formal education online as they gain their experiential knowledge. In this context, Davids comments: “I very much anticipate a relaxation of the ABA’s strict controls over online education.”

William Mitchell’s online law degree program is set to launch in 2015, when it will join several others. William Mitchell is a highly ranked school, considered by U.S. News and World Report to be in the top tier of law schools in the U.S. so its online status is not a last-ditch effort to gain legitimacy. It is a safe bet that other schools will join these trailblazers and launch online law degree programs soon. Although the legal education industry has never been known for innovation, it cannot avoid technology forever.

[Editor s note: This article is the first of two parts. Check back in two weeks for another on the legal issues that affect online education providers. ]