Part-time law school programs are designed for professionals who do not plan to leave the work force to attend law school.(ref1+2+3) These programs often have courses at night, unlike their full-time counterparts.(ref1) Part-time law school programs require four years of coursework. (ref1+2+3)
The typical route to law school requires three years of full-time study. Since few can work a full-time job in combination with full-time law school, law school is usually paid with loans. Going through law school part time allows students to keep their jobs and pay as they go, reducing the loan debt accumulated to pay for school.
Full-time law programs have stricter requirements for LSAT and GPA scores than part-time programs. Part-time programs give fuller weight to your professional accomplishments than to your test scores, which may make it easier for a professional with lower scores to enter a law school program.
Whether or not you can transfer into a full-time program after a year's worth of part time study varies depending on the university you attend. For example, part-time law schools at George Washington University, Temple University and George Mason University allow automatic transfers into the full-time program, but the law program at Loyola University requires an extreme circumstance for a transfer.
Not all of the top law schools offer part time programs, which means you may have to study at a less prestigious school than if you attended full time. The responsibilities of a full-time job on top of a part-time law school degree can also take a negative emotional toll, with competing constraints on time and energy.