Question for the attorneys in the house...
 

Can one go straight to law school, get a JD (and become a lawyer) without an undergrad degree?

:confused: Just curious...

Depends on the school I think. I know at least 1 does.

http://www.cooley.edu/admissions/admw_outba.htm

Here is the answer on WikiAnswers. However, I think it loses some credibility with the smiley at the end :).

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_you_attend_Law_School_without_a_bachelor's_deg ree

No. All ABA approved schools require an undergraduate degree. You can go to a law school that is not accredited without a degree, but only ABA accredited schools qualify you for admission to the bar. California is a slight exception. California has its own state accredting agency and it is possible to attend a California accedited law school without ABA accreditation and sit for the California bar. Some of those schools don't require much other than your tuition payment. Some other states might have similar rules. But if you get a degree from one of these non-ABA approved schoosl you cannot practice anywhere other than the one state that accepts that sort of accreditation. For instance, if you graduated from a California accredited law school, passed the California bar and practiced a few years, you can't use your practice history to get a law license in Wisconsin. Wisconsin would not accept your application until you graduated from an ABA accredited law school, despite the California license.

It looks like Thomas Cooley operates under some special state-specific rule. They used to be ABA accredited, but I don't see any statement on their web site that they are accredited now. I doubt that they are. I also can't tell whether they mean that they will allow people without undergraduate degrees to graduate, or whether they will give you an undergraduate degree as part of the law program if you have your undergraduate degree 90% complete. If they accept seniors with the understanding that the first year law program finishes the undergraduate requirements, that's not so different than other schools who offer six year accelerated undergraduate/law joint programs.

I looked the ABA has Cooley listed as an approved college,

so does this mean you could go there practice wherever you'd like??

OK, how about this scenario...could one go to law school without an undergrad degree and get their JD?

Of course.

There are lots of "law schools" that are really nothing more than "for profit" businesses, California is full of them, other states have them, you can probably even get a JD from many mail order or Internet "law schools," too.

Only requirement for admission: That your check clears.