The Birth of Law Fu™
This is a blog about pursuing your law degree and your MBA at the same time–becoming a JD/MBA. More specifically, it’s about the pro’s and con’s of studying these professions online, tactics for mastering the material, thinking strategically about your career, getting the most from classes, fitting in with your colleagues, and studying late into the night, blogging late into the night when you should be studying.
I’m Trevor Reid (lately many people call me “Ti”) in hot pursuit of the online JD/MBA. As of tonight, only final exams stand between me and successful completion of my first year (1L) at Concord Law School. For a more complete story, please check out the About Trevor page. Anyway, the inspiration for this blog struck while I was attending a 2008 trial lawyers’ convention in Philadelphia. On the first day there was an orientation session especially for law student attendees and as I mingled we almost universally introduced ourselves by name, year, and school affiliation. Although Concord is among the largest law schools, it is still an unfamiliar name for many of my bright, young colleagues who attend traditional schools. In fact, becoming a licensed attorney by earning a law degree online is still vanguard enough that it actually takes a lot of guts–more on that later. Anyway, by the end of the circuit I had explained how I studied law online so many times that my impromptu capsule sounded more like a well rehearsed presentation.
The most common reaction was curiosity. I heard “how does that work?” and, “how do your professors use the Socratic method online?” the most. There were also a few horrified, did I seriously just move across the country because I didn’t know all my options stupors and–occasionally–some skepticism. I really enjoyed engaging my fellow law students on these points and walked away with a great deal more perspective on advantages and disadvantages of the way they go to school too. All this made me realize, that there is a lot of genuine interest in the realities of online legal education. This blog will be a candid forum to share what I’ve found out so far, pro and con alike.
Online MBA’s may be less exotic than online law degrees, but since I study both it just seems natural to include both experiences in my posts. I will try to keep an open mind, but my enthusiasm is bound to show. Overall, I think there has never been a better time to go for a degree online. It’s exciting that technology is putting these vital professions and knowledge in reach for more people than ever before.
Here, I should mention that I study each degree independently at separate institutions. I am responsible for coordinating between the two programs and managing my time accordingly. This is not strictly speaking a dual degree and I will probably undertake more credit hours than if it were. This, of course, means investing extra time and money.
So, that’s me and those are the aims of this blog. I also want you to know that I welcome your comments at every turn. This goes for questions and criticism as well. Please keep comments civil. I am not easily offended, but other readers may be. I’ll be looking out for them.
Finally, if you are a student from Concord Law School or another school and would like to setup a companion blog hosted on this server please leave me a comment letting me know. I believe varied perspectives on education and on the professions are Good Things.