Choosing the best attorney continuing education program involves evaluating the academic rigor of the program as well as its cost. It is also crucial to make sure classes are taught by attorneys or professors with a strong command of the legal industry. Many people who wish to become a lawyer take attorney continuing education classes through their local community college, law school extension programs, or online.
Being a lawyer requires a depth of legal knowledge, such as becoming familiar with court cases, regulations, and legal language. Due to the nature of the legal curriculum, it is important that you select a program that offers a wide variety of legal topics to study. Oftentimes, attorney continuing education programs will provide specialized learning and resources for a particular topic. Popular topics in the legal world include tax law, intellectual property and patent law, and ethics.
A continuing education program that allows you time to practice in the field is a suitable option. Practicing law requires more than knowing about the theoretical underpinnings of the law. You must also know how to put those theories into practice. Some attorney continuing education programs encourage internships and pro bono work so students can get a feel for their legal specialty before obtaining a degree. For an aspiring attorney, there is no better way to learn about the field than to encounter cases and legal challenges in the real world.
Cost and convenience are additional factors to determine the best attorney continuing education program for you. While online courses tend to be more affordable than in-person classes, in-person classes offer greater class interaction as well as more academic resources and support. Online legal courses allow students to take classes at non-traditional times such as in the evenings or on weekends. The online option is more convenient for those who wish to save money, have a demanding job, or for those attorneys who simply seek to satisfy their curiosity on a certain subject without delving too far into the details.
Distance learning legal education programs have become entirely web-based. These programs do not require books, sending papers through the mail, or any of the other characteristics of past distance learning programs. If you have a computer with a reliable Internet connection, taking continuing education courses online is fairly straightforward. The lecture can be viewed in real-time, questions can be asked via a chat client, and assignments can be uploaded and sent to the professor directly.
