29 Sep Opportunities After Your Online Adventure
At this point you know your school is not American Bar Association (ABA) Accredited. You are either in another country, attending an online or correspondence school, or just don’t have the time to attend a brick and mortar. Whatever your reason, you know that you must pass the FYLSE, finish your credits, and then you are eligible to sit for the California Bar Exam. Once you are finished and pass that CA Bar, you will be a lawyer, just like all those overpriced bums that went to a brick and mortar.
Each state has their own rules and regulations regarding who can sit for the Bar of that State, requirements for admittance to the Federal Court of Appeals for each State, what prior legal experience they require, possible reciprocity, etc. But do not worry, there are other options!
State Specific
Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Tennessee allow individuals to take the bar exam upon graduation from law schools approved by state bodies but not accredited by the American Bar Association. The state of New York makes special provision for persons educated to degree-level in the common law from countries overseas, with most LLB (Legum Baccalaureus, aka Bachelor of law) degree holders being qualified to take the bar exam.
But in certain states (Arizona), you may not be allowed to actually take the bar exam unless the school is accredited by the ABA. Graduates of a law school without ABA accreditation may not sit for the Arizona bar, although they may take the bar in other states.
U.S. Court of Appeals
Admission to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is open to any attorney admitted to practice and in good standing with the U.S. Supreme Court, any of the other federal courts of appeal, any federal district court, the highest court of any state, the Court of International Trade, the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, or the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
An attorney wishing to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States must be admitted to the bar of the highest court of a state for three years, must be sponsored by two attorneys already admitted to the Supreme Court bar, and has to take an oath and pay for it. Do not let the sponsor requirement scare you; you will meet many people while in law school and if you network, maybe they will sponsor you!
Patent Law
Persons wishing to “prosecute” patent applications must first pass the USPTO registration examination, frequently referred to as the “patent bar.” Only registered patent attorneys or patent agents can prosecute patent applications in the USPTO but passing the patent bar is not necessary to advise clients on patent infringement, to litigate patent issues in court, or to prosecute trademark applications. A J.D. is not required to sit for the patent bar but it does play into what you can call yourself in practice. This means that Patent Law is a good option for many graduates of an unaccredited online law school.
Social Security Appeals
You are not required to have a JD to represent clients in Social Security Appeals but it is another area of law which may be interesting to you while you are waiting your “practice time limit” required by your state. To represent someone in a Social Security Appeal you must have the ability to give valuable help to a claimant and have a good character and reputation.
LLM Degree
If practice in the United States is not your main goal then you may want to look at continuing your education through the Legum Magister (LLM) degree. An LLM degree means a master of laws in Latin.The LLM degree is an advanced law certification that has global credibility. Generally, you must have a JD and complete an additional year of schooling at a school which offers the LLM. New York, California, Georgia, Washington and Wisconsin allow students to sit the bar exam based on the completion of an LL.M. at an American school.
Other Options
While we have mentioned a few options above there are so many that we couldn’t name them all. You can work in healthcare as a program integrity consultant, forensic claims examiner, and so much more. You can do a myriad of advocacy work; Individualized Education Plan Advocacy, Special Needs Advocacy, etc. Just because you cant automatically sit for the bar in your state does not mean you do not have options; you just need to look for them!
If you have any other options you know of please post them in the comments!