A correspondence law degree is one that you earn by enrolling in a distance education program. This particular program enables you to work for a correspondence law degree title, without being physically present in a formal classroom set-up. Rather, you can conveniently take your studies in the comfort of your own home or your office. (1)
Since many of those dreaming of entering law school usually have jobs to attend to, earning the needed law degree the traditional way may simply be too hard for them. This is where the concept of a correspondence law degree comes in. Through the Internet, you can work on that much-coveted degree at a pace and in a place that is most convenient to you. All you need is a PC or a laptop and access to the website of the law school where you wish to take up law.
In the online setting, earning a correspondence law degree will usually involve a program that you need to observe. You might find this previously uninspiring, especially since you will be on your own. However, with modern Internet tools like the chat room and the email system, you can now get to talk to your law professor and even to your classmates if ever you have questions about an assignment, a coursework, or any school material that you are using. (2)
Earning law degrees through correspondence is not really new. In fact, several schools in Great Britain have been making use of this particular method for decades, with the University of London considered as among the pioneers. The effort has inspired other countries like Australia and South Africa to likewise offer a correspondence law degree program in their respective law schools. (3)
Meanwhile, in the United States, being conferred a correspondence law degree carries with it several unique conditions. For one, if you took up law through correspondence, you cannot take your bar exam unless your school carries appropriate recognition from the State Bar of California. (4) The good news is, once you are a licensed California lawyer, you are qualified to take other bar exams in various American states.
(1) http://www.newport.edu/law.html
(2) http://www.alu.edu/about/index.php
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_law_school#Distance_legal_education_in_the_United_Kingdom
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_law_school#Distance_legal_education_in_the_United_States