A friend in considering an online law degree. She has 20 years of experience working in legal departments drafting contract provisions and supervising customer/vendor contracts. She wants the degree to advance at her current position but is also open to working at a local or regional law firm or going in house at another company. She is considering Purdue Global Law and ASU's online degree. Does anyone have a sense of how these credentials are perceived in the market? She lives in California.

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Online law degrees are hardly worth the paper they’re printed on. Wouldn’t advise anyone to waste time or money on them. Purdue Global in particular is a well known degree mill. Much better bet is finding a part-time program at a respected, ABA-accredited law school. And even then, the value proposition is dubious if the goal isn’t to become a licensed, practicing attorney.

likehelpfulsmart

What about getting credentialed as a firm administrator or practice group?

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A JD is a terrible investment for the 40+ crowd, doubly so if they don’t want to be a licensed lawyer. It’s going to add 0 value to her paralegal/contract management work (you get that from taking reps, which she’s already been doing for 2 decades).

From experience, I would not want to hire another JD support staff, because it can lead to confusion about who does what and start to flirt with UPL.

likesmart
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I didn't even know they existed so...

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Right. There use to be an in person attendance requirement by the aba

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Don't ever get another degree for a job you already have unless they pay for it.

likehelpfulsmart

What about an MSL? Or have her look at Santa Clara’s hybrid or other law schools’s hybrid programs. Your never to old to go to school. If she really wants to do it she should!

likefunny

I had a paralegal with an MSL. Even she said the degree wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

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Thanks, all. I have passed along this feedback, which she found helpful.

likesmart

Does she have any degree at all? If she’s already drafting, all she “needs” is paralegal certification and be supervised by an attorney. She can also bill her time.

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What is she not getting in her current role that she could get with the JD? It sounds like she already has complex contracts experience without it…

likehelpful

i didn’t even know they offered online JDs? how much weight does a diploma from one of these programs even hold? why doesn’t she just actually attend law school? they do have part-time programs so she could still work.

as for the market, obviously ASU is in that region so it may hold some clout. not sure if the online aspect will make a difference though. i don’t know anything about Purdue Global Law. i would encourage her to talk to their career people and see what kinds of career results their alumni have had.

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Hello Community Merry Christmas , I'll have a interview this coming friday the 26 th , with a Law firm in Dallas Texas , for an Intake specialist/Recepcionist position , any reference about possible questions , what are the "latest or trend questions" they might ask for that specifposition? , Thanks in advanced 🙂 .

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I wouldn't bother with an online degree because she'll be competing against lawyers with more pretigeous degrees who are all scratching and clawing for jobs as it is. About 20 years ago, I elevated from a senior paralegal to in-house legal management and my salary almost doubled. Not having a law degree was a huge regret for a long time but I feel pretty lucky to have a relatively low stress, six-figure job in law.

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What sort of degree is she considering? A jd? A master of law? How does she think this will help her to advance in her career?

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CA accredited schools (aka not ABA accredited) are garbage. They have a 20% bar passage rate and you’ll have extreme difficulty getting hired at a firm. I have several friends who went that route and they all regret it.

likehelpful

Years ago, I had a relative ask me about online law degrees and I advised against it based on what they wanted to do. The plan for them was to interact with more people and possibly go to court every now and then. My thought was that if a person is considering more client and attorney interaction, you need to develop a comfort level for them; you have to train your brain - which will not happen when you’re predominantly learning online.

Others here have talked to OP about law school evening programs. My law school has that and I would recommend it. It may take you a bit longer to finish law school, but your career will progress farther with a degree from an ABA accredited school and plenty of in-person teacher/student interaction.

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If she is tech-savvy, she could consider Privacy and AI governance/contracting. It would be a lot cheaper, quicker, and these areas are still relatively new and don't require a JD/law license. If she is a contract paralegal, this may be a good add-on for the price and commitment. I would estimate roughly less than $5k investment and maybe 2-3 months of study (through IAPP) + she will need experience. If interested, she can look at CIPP/US, CIPP/EU, and AIGP.

Many companies are rushing to fill these roles and get people up to speed on Privacy issues and, more recently, AI governance and contracting. My guess is that her company prob has a project team dealing with these issues now.

Otherwise, I agree with the other comments. Just trying to offer a possible option to consider.

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I’ve seen director of contracts roles that want 10+ years of experience and no JD required. Maybe and could look into that as an alternative .

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Find an online degree program that is associated with an in person law school. I know that Syracuse started one a few years ago.

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Syracuse is wicked expensive though, so i am sure the online degree is too.

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