Keep Distance Education for Law Schools: Online Education, the Pandemic, and Access to Justice

Sep 21, 2026

A global COVID-19 pandemic temporarily moved American law schools online after regulators loosened distance-learning limits. This essay argues distance education should remain an available option beyond the crisis, not as the default but at a greater extent than before. It links online legal education to lower law-school costs, a broader supply of affordable legal services, and improved access to justice for more Americans. It urges regulators to adopt permanent distance-education-friendly accreditation and bar admission standards.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

I. The Deferred Promise of Distance Education in Law

II. Distance Education and Access to Justice: Why Distance Education Should Remain an Option Beyond the Pandemic

III. What the Regulators of Legal Education Can Do

Conclusion

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal | Volume 53
Issue 1 Fall 2021 | Article 7 | | --- | --- | | 2021
Keep Distance Education for Law Schools: Online Pandemic, and Access to Justice
Lael Weinberger
Follow this and additional works at: [https://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj](https://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj) | Education, the | Recommended Citation Lael Weinberger, Keep Distance Education for Law Schools: Online Education, the Pandemic, and Access to Justice, 53 Loy. U. Chi. L. J. 211 () . Available at: [https://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj/vol53/iss1/7](https://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj/vol53/iss1/7) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by LAW eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola University Chicago Law Journal by an authorized editor of LAW eCommons. For more information, please contact [law-library@luc.edu](law-library@luc.edu). Keep Distance Education for Law Schools: Online Education, the Pandemic, and Access to Justice Lael Weinberger* While distance education made inroads throughout higher education, law schools kept their distance—until a global pandemic forced them all online for a time. For the first time, the gatekeepers to the profession atthe American Bar Association (ABA) and state bars temporarily dropped their limits on distance learning. Now as American law schools prepare to return to normalcy, should distance learning remain an option? This essay argues it should, because it has potential to improve access to justice, in that distance education can reduce the costs of law school, increasing the supply of lawyers who can afford to provide less expensive legal services. Now is the time for legal regulators to make permanent what they allowed temporarily during the pandemic: distance-educationfriendly accreditation and bar admission standards. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................212 I. THE DEFERRED PROMISE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN LAW.............212 A. The Promise of Distance Learning ................................... 213 B. Delayed............................................................................. 215 C. COVID-19 and the Instant Rise of Distance Education... 216 II. DISTANCE EDUCATION AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE: WHY DISTANCE EDUCATION SHOULD REMAIN AN OPTION BEYOND THE PANDEMIC.................................................................................................218 A. Demand for Legal Services Outstrips Supply ................... 219 B. Many Americans Are Priced Out of the Market for Legal Services ............................................................................ 220 C. Distance Education Could Help Lower the Costs, Increasing Supply and Distributing It More Evenly .......................... 223 D. How Distance Education Can Reduce Costs ................... 227 1. Simply Offer Courses Online...................................... 227 2. Offer Distance Education Courses at a Discount........ 227 3. Distance Education Coupled with Other Changes in * Olin-Searle-Smith Fellow in Law, Harvard Law School. 212 Loyola University Chicago Law Journal [Vol. 53 Regulations and Accreditation Standards .................. 229 III. WHAT THE REGULATORS OF LEGAL EDUCATION CAN DO..............229 A. The Easy Steps .................................................................. 230 B. More Creative (and Radical) Possibilities ....................... 230 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................231 INTRODUCTION Distance education for law schools has been waiting just offstage for thirty years now. In the 1990s, the internet facilitated a new era of distance education across much of higher education. Commentators began to predict that it was only a matter of time before it would make significant inroads in legal education. Years passed and it never happened. Then in one tumultuous mo

FAQs

What prompted law schools to move online during the pandemic?

The global COVID-19 pandemic triggered worldwide shutdowns, and regulators temporarily dropped distance-learning limits for the profession. This forced legal education to go online for a time.

Why does the paper argue distance education should remain an option after the pandemic?

It argues distance education can improve access to justice by lowering legal education costs. Lower costs can increase the supply of lawyers who can afford to provide less expensive legal services.

What changes does the paper recommend for legal regulators?

It calls for legal regulators to make permanent the temporarily allowed distance-education-friendly accreditation and bar admission standards. It also emphasizes the need for regulators to take a fresh look at distance-learning possibilities.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Chloe Bennett