No online law school currently is accredited by the American Bar Association. This is one of the chief obstacles to the system because the graduates cannot practice as professional lawyers. While they may be able to obtain the necessary skill-set, they will still be unable to perform all of the duties of an actual accredited attorney.
Currently some online law schools are associated with larger schools in order to obtain some credibility. Concord Law School is a division of the massive Kaplan University online system. The school markets itself as an innovative, technology-driven online school. It allows flexible learning and study hours that traditional law schools cannot provide.
Online law schools have much lower costs than traditional brick-and-mortar law schools. For example, the degree from Northwestern California University costs only $2,850 per year with an additional $500 to $900 for materials. A traditional degree can be ten times that amount and teach a similar skill set. This price of education is one of the chief benefits of online law schools.
Master of Law Letters (LLM) is a program that many online colleges provide. For these programs, accreditation is not as important due to the fact that the students may have graduated from accredited law programs. Concord Law School offers an LLM program in Small Business Practices. This may be advantageous for attorneys that would like to add another certification and specialize in the business world.