Practice Management

I am not sure how I feel about institutions that accroach the name of a famous leader in order to add validity.  But, there is no denying that Thomas Jefferson School of Law has otherwise come a long way.

TJSL never really scores well in law school rankings, but then we do not much like the law school rankings as they are fabricated and tend to focus on objectives that are not, in the end, useful to graduating students.  Applicants probably pay too much attention to manipulated data that make up the rankings to the detriment of what is otherwise a good and useful law school education.  I think that is true for Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

When you look past the rankings, you discover very quickly that TJSL is an up and coming law school in many ways that provides a needed education to many who want to obtain law degrees and practice law.

TJSL began operations in 1969 as the San Diego campus of the Western State University College of Law.  In 1983 it moved and expanded its campus to the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego.  During this time of operation TJSL operated as a non-ABA approved law school.  But, the law school became independent in 1995 when it separated from Western State and then gained accreditation from the American Bar Association and it is now a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

There are a couple of things that really recommend TJSL.

First, in regard the one criteria that really should matter with law schools, TJSL continues to increase the bar passage rate of its graduates.  As a result, unfortunately, its acceptance rate is decreasing.  For example, for the July 2008 administration of the California Bar Exam, TJSL first-time takers achieved a bar passage rate greater than 75%.  And, this is in California, which has an exceedingly difficult bar exam and traditionally low bar passage rates.

Second, in October 2008, TJSL broke ground on its new campus, which will be located in the vibrant East Village district of downtown San Diego. (See the new law school as designed above).  The new campus, an eight-story 177,000 square foot building designed to comply with rigorous Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ("LEED") Green Building requirements, will house classrooms, a two-story law library, a cafe, bookstore, and legal clinic.  TJSL will occupy the new facilities beginning at the start of

the 2010-2011 academic year.

Third, the law school is located in beautiful San Diego, California.

There are a couple less desirable things about the school, but I think overall the law school overcomes these.

One, San Diego, although beautiful, is undoubtedly an expensive place to live.

Two, tuition is currently running about $31,620 a year for full time students and $19,860.00 for part time students.  The part time program offers those that need it some good degree of flexibility to finish law school.  The truth of the matter is that tuition for law schools is just getting expensive.  But, when gaging whether to pay it, look at what matters most to you.  That might be location.  The availability of a part time program.  For me it is (1) the bar passage rate, and (2) whether the law school gives more than lip service to producing practice ready lawyers.  It think TJLS does.

If you are thinking about law schools, check this one out.