[shicholas]

I went to a mid-ranked state school. My experience is the classes were too esoteric and I was embarrassed when I had no idea how to file a motion once barred. Admittedly my school has improved with more clinic experiences (something I should have done).

Imo you could learn everything in law school better with apprenticeship, especially the most important part - having tough conversations.

What about your experience made you feel that law school was valuable?

[gnicholas]

I learned tons about the law! Some was directly related to my daily work as a tax lawyer (business associations, tax law x3, IP law x2), and some was important from time to time (conlaw).

This knowledge could have been gained another way, via a mix of apprenticeship and online learning. But I would have needed to do a bit of online learning before I was able to add much value or absorb the learnings from an apprenticeship position. There might be other areas of law with an easier learning curve, but corporate international tax isn't one of them.

I readily concede that at current tuition levels, going to law school now is a risky proposition. When I went 15 years ago, it was a pretty good deal with in-state tuition and some scholarship. I'm all in favor of students having alternative pathways that allow them to demonstrate the necessary competencies, especially if this lowers the cost to getting a law license.