scaredy, I think the first/second time CA bar pass-rate is MUCH higher for those candidates who already have 20+ years work experience in the field. Most of these candidates would have attended (part time) the CalWesterns and ThomasJefferson’s of the world, close to their day jobs, methinks.
This has been my experience working with coworkers aged 40+ at the time of entering law school. They got out, took the bar exam, passed and paid off their small student debt while still on their “day jobs” (waiting to get hired as an attorney). Sometimes that took an additional three years or they ended up leaving their employer to take an attorney job at another firm if they felt it would be just as secure. Others stayed working at paralegals (with their JD’s and bar license in hand) in order to completely retire their law school debt.
It is much harder and takes much longer to retire large student loans today.
I’m with jwizzle that I wouldn’t spend any money at all on a non-ABA accredited school … not even a non-ABA accredited paralegal school. It’s not worth it and limits the graduate’s options as to where they can work, or, as a paralegal, where they can remain certified. A young graduate has their whole lives ahead of them and anything can happen.
No matter how “smart” a prospective law student/bar candidate might be or think they are (believe it or not, I think I could pass the bar on the first try :=0), there comes a time in one’s life where they have to realize their ship already sailed in this regard and thru a cost-benefit analysis come to the conclusion that they wouldn’t likely be able to recoup their investment in law school/barbri etc through working as an attorney. Practically speaking, and due to the dearth of job openings combined with rampant (legal) age discrimination, I think this cutoff age is about 45-47 years old in SD (the last possible age to be successfully hired as a *new* attorney). In most cases, the time and expense element of law school is just too great for mid-career adults who already have established family obligations.
And I don’t think its a wise business move for new attorneys to strike out on their own, esp in this economic climate.
