A correspondence law school is a school that offers legal education by distance education, either by correspondence or online by use of the internet, or a combination thereof.
Germany Distance legal education in Germany is available through the University of Hagen, a public university similar to the Open University in the United Kingdom. The graduates receive LLB or LLM degrees. Specialized LLB degrees in business law are available through five universities of applied sciences: Hamburger Fernhochschule, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, Europäische Fernhochschule Hamburg,South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, and the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences.German Higher Education Compass (official database of German higher education)
South Africa Distance legal education is a permissible method to become a lawyer in South Africa, and has been available through the University of South Africa (UNISA) since 2018.
United Kingdom Distance legal education in the United Kingdom is accepted by the Law Society of England and Wales as a qualifying law degree and one of the possible ways to become a solicitor or a barrister. Several institutions offer basic legal education leading to the LLB degree, the oldest of which is the University of London External System. Numerous universities in the UK offer LLB degrees through distance education today, including the Open University.
In other countries influenced by the British legal heritage, legal education can be obtained through distance education, including Australia.
United States
History Law school study by correspondence has existed in the United States since 1889 when Sprague Correspondence School of Law was established by William C. Sprague in Detroit, Michigan.The History of Legal Education in the United States, Steve Sheppard (April 2007) It eventually merged with Blackstone Institute, and later was known as Blackstone School of Law. Among the school’s early graduates was Antoinette D. Leach, who in 1893 became the first woman admitted by the Indiana Supreme Court to practice law in Indiana.The Opinion of the Supreme Court in the Matter of the Petition of Mrs. Antoinette D. Leach for Admission to Practice Law in the State of Indiana.
In 1908, La Salle Extension University was founded in Chicago by Jesse Grant Chapline. LSEU was involved in several lawsuits and counter-suits by the Federal Trade Commission over the law degree it advertised. In 1973, La Salle Extension University was charged by FTC (D. 5907) for "involving misrepresentations about obtaining law degrees through a correspondence course."Annual Report of the Federal Trade Commission for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1973. FTC ordered that the university be required to include a disclaimer in advertisements for its law distance program that read: "No state accepts any law home study course, including La Salle's, as sufficient education to qualify for admission to practice law."O'Connor, Meg (September 18, 1980). FTC orders truth in college's ads. Chicago_TribuneAmazing, May 1975 ad La Salle Extension University closed its law school program in 1980 following the litigation involving the FTC.LaSalle Extension University & Katharine Gibbs School v. Federal Trade Commission et al.," 627 F.2d. 481 (DC Cir. 1980).
Among the La Salle Extension University"La Salle" in print media graduates who practiced as attorneys were governors Harold J. Arthur and Eurith D. Rivers, U.S. Representatives John S. Gibson and Civil Rights activist and Gertrude Rush.
Other correspondence law schools included the American Correspondence School of Law of Chicago, Columbian Correspondence College of Law in Washington D.C., and New York Correspondence School of Law in New York. They were innovative for the time in providing many poor, working-class, women, and ethnic minorities educational opportunities.Griffith Ogden Ellis, "The Value of Correspondence Instruction in the Law", American Law School Review, Nov. 1906
In 1994, the St. Petersburg Times in Florida published information about a Rev. James Kirk who opened a diploma mill calling it LaSalle University in Slidell, Louisiana, which, while being investigated by Louisiana authorities, "contend[ed] it [was] exempt from licensing because even though it offers degrees in engineering and law, it is a religious institution."Judy Garnatz, "Correspondence law school has its share of complaints," Times Action, St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 13, 1994.
21st century In 2002, the ABA said it had no plans to accredit a fully-online law school.
In 2015, Mitchell Hamline School of Law was the first "ABA-approved law school to receive an ABA variance to offer a half on-campus/half online JD program." In 2018, Syracuse University College of Law was given approval by the ABA to conduct a JD program that was mostly online.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, online law schools were uncommon outside of California. As of 2026, 22 ABA accredited law schools have JD programs with at least a 50 percent online component, with 9 of those programs listed as fully online. The others have residencies ranging from a few days a year to in-person sessions on weekends.
ABA law schools with fully online programs
Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law Mitchell Hamline School of Law Ohio Northern University Claude W. Pettit College of Law St. Mary’s University School of Law Southwestern Law School Suffolk University Law School University of Detroit Mercy School of Law University of Hawai’i, William S. Richardson School of Law Correspondence and online legal education in California
Overview In California, students can attend unaccredited law schools for 4 years through either a correspondence or online law school. Once a law student has successfully completed their first year of law school, Business and Professions Code section 6060 requires the student to take and pass the First Year Law Student Examination (FYLSE), commonly known as the "baby bar", within the first three attempts of becoming eligible. If student fails to do so, all law school education beyond year one will be ignored by the state, the student must pass this exam before becoming a lawyer if they have obtained their entire degree online, or by correspondence law school. In the United States, non-ABA approved law schools and online/correspondence schools, which primarily exist in California, have lower bar passage rates than ABA-approved and traditional brick and mortar law schools.
In 2007, the California State Legislature passed legislation transferring oversight authority of unaccredited law schools from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (which oversees non-law education), to the State Bar in response to the historically low bar passage rate of students graduating from unaccredited law schools, including correspondence/online schools.Michelle L. Tessier, "Review of Selected 2007 California Legislation: Business and Profession: Chapter 534: Raising the Bar for Unaccredited Law Schools in California", 38 McGeorge L. Rev. 31 (2007).
Beginning in 2019, the State Bar of California allowed online law schools to become accredited by the State Bar of California, effectively creating three tiers of law schools in California, namely:
Those with ABA accreditation Those with State Bar of California accreditation and Unaccredited but registered law schools.
In order to achieve State Bar of California accreditation, law schools must have a "a 5-year cumulative bar pass rate of 40%."
Those who pass the California bar exam and meet the other requirements of California may practice law in California, as well as practice federal law (such as immigration law, etc.) in all states.
History In 1996, Abraham Lincoln University began a hybrid in-class and correspondence approach to law school, designed to offer scheduling flexibility to students, before adding an online component in 2004."New Online Law School Raises the Bar on Profits", The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 19, 2004.
The first law school to offer a degree program completely online was Concord Law School, then owned by Kaplan, Inc. It later would become the law school of Purdue University Global, the online division for Purdue University, which also began its life as Kaplan University in 1998. At the time of its opening, it was critcized by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Concord graduated its first class in November 2002.Martha Neil. "Virtual Lawyers: Online Law School Produces Its First Graduating Class". ABA Journal, Dec. 2002 (88 A.B.A.J. 27). In 2006, Concord was the largest of the seven distance learning law schools operating at the time.Lois Romano. "Online Degree Programs Take Off". TechNews, The Washington Post. May 16, 2006.
Northwestern California University School of Law is the oldest existing correspondence law school in the United States. It was founded in 1982 and began presenting its correspondence program entirely online in 2002.
California Bar passage rates Statistics for the California Bar Examination and First-Year Law Students' Examination ("Baby Bar"), including those for correspondence law schools and distance learning law schools, are provided by the California State Bar. In California in 2022, 75% of ABA-accredited law school graduates passed the bar, 36% of State Bar of California approved law school graduates and 13% of unaccredited law school graduates.
Accreditation and acceptance of credentials
The other states have varying rules for graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools registered with the California State Bar: (a) a few states allow such graduates to immediately sit for the bar exams after graduation; (b) some states allow such graduates to sit for the bar exam immediately after passing the California Bar Exam; (c) several states allow graduates of correspondence and distance learning law schools to sit for the bar exams after passing the California Bar Exam and then gaining experience as an attorney: and (d) some states do not allow such graduates to ever sit for their bar exams.
Graduates of California online schools have commenced legal actions in order to sit for the bar exam in their home states. Mel Thompson, a 2005 graduate of the West Coast School of Law, sued the ABA and the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, alleging that Connecticut's refusal to let him sit for the bar exam violated due process, equal protection, and served as an "arbitrary" and unlawful restraint on trade.Douglas S. Malan, Grad: Online J.D. Isn't B.S., Connecticut Law Tribune, Nov. 20, 2006. Thompson's grievance did not succeed and in 2007 his suit was dismissed.Fred P. Parker, "Litigation Update", The Bar Examiner, May 2007. Martha Neil, "Judge: Internet Law Grad Can’t Take State Bar," ABA Journal, April 11, 2007. In 2007 Ross Mitchell, a 2004 graduate of Concord Law School, filed suit against the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners. Mitchell's suit was successful. In 2008 the state’s Supreme Judicial Court granted Mitchell permission to take the Massachusetts bar exam.Kristina Horton Flaherty, "Court win for online law school grad", California Bar Journal, January 2009. In 2009 Mitchell passed the bar and became the first online law school graduate sworn into the state bar of Massachusetts."Concord Law School Grad to Be Sworn into Massachusetts Bar", Reuters, June 22, 2009.
Proponents of such exclusions argue that without ABA accreditation, there is no effective way to check that a law school meets minimum academic standards and that its graduates are prepared to become attorneys.See, e.g., Jay Cook, "Don't lower the bar for law students," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Apr. 13, 2007; Richardson R. Lynn, "Law degree on Net? Stay out of Georgia", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 30, 2007.