Law School Closes Doors

An unaccredited law school in California is closing its doors—just three years after it opened.

Above The Law reports that Lady Justice Law School, located in Bakersfield, California, recently told the State Bar it would submit a letter surrendering its registration.

According to Above The Law, the law school informed students in August that classes were to be suspended before they even began. Additionally, students had yet to pay for tuition with at least one student already transferring. The State Bar states that the unaccredited law school had up to 10 students attending.

AN UNACCREDITED INSTITUTION

Based on information from Lady Justice’s website, the law school “provides the opportunity for a legal education to both traditional and non-traditional students.”

Tuition is set at a mere $400 a month, with the law school touting that it is “the region’s only part-time law program, geared to meet the needs of working professionals while providing the opportunity to earn a law degree characterized by diversity and innovation.”

According to Above The Law, Kern County College of Law is the only other law school located in the region. Kern County College of Law, which is state-accredited, is beginning to see spillover from the Lady Justice fallout.

“We have already received inquiries from former Lady Justice students who are willing to start over in order to be enrolled in an accredited program,” Kern County College of Law Dean Mitch Winick tells Above The Law.

Law schools with low bar exam passage rates and high student fallout are under increased scrutiny in recent years.

Most recently, Thomas Jefferson School of Law lost its accreditation due to its struggles of meeting ABA standards.

Sources: Above The Law, Lady Justice Law School, Tipping the Scales