Welcome back to Ahead of the Curve. I'm Karen Sloan, legal education editor at Law.com, and I'll be your host for this weekly look at innovation and notable developments in legal education.

This week, I'm chatting with Hamilton Chan, who founded Loyola Law School, Los Angeles' new executive education program LLX, about what makes it different from other law school initiatives to teach non-lawyers. Next up is a look at Washburn University School of Law's Third Year Anywhere program, which promises to let 3Ls gain experience and build their professional networks outside of the Topeka, Kansas, campus. 

Please share your thoughts and feedback with me at [email protected] or on Twitter: @KarenSloanNLJ

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The Netflix of Legal Education?

Talk to Hamilton Chan for a few minutes about Loyola Law School, Los Angeles' new executive education program, dubbed LLX, and a theme emerges—Netflix, the streaming behemoth that lets you lose days of your life binge watching the entire run of Friends, or, say, delving into a true-crime documentary like Making a Murderer.

The way Chan sees it, traditional legal education is a lot like a Direct TV package, with hundreds of channels spanning from sports to science fiction. Some people love the ability to surf endlessly, but not everyone wants or needs all those channels—just as not everyone has the funds and three years of their lives to devote to getting a J.D. Still, plenty of people in the business world would benefit from some legal basics in their day-to-day work.

So why not unbundle legal education and let people pick and choose what they want to learn about, and deliver that content online in short spurts while not breaking the bank? That's essentially the idea behind LLX, according to Chan, who is the director of the school's executive education program. It's a series of short online courses focused on specific areas of the law, such as negotiations, contracts and intellectual property. There are no exams, no grades, and no degree at the end. But students should come away with a legal foundation in their area of interest for less than four figures. (Each course costs $950.) The program is geared toward business executives as well as lawyers who want to develop new skills.

Law schools have delved into executive education from time to time, though many have focused on lawyer education. (I'm thinking of programs akin to Milbank@Harvard, where the firm's associates are dispatched to Harvard's law and business schools for leadership training.) According to Chan, LLX is unlike any existing executive education programs offered by a law school.

Of course, Loyola isn't the first law school to hit on the idea that there's a market for non-lawyers to learn about the law. Hence the proliferation of masters programs for non-lawyers (in-person and online), which started about eight years ago when schools were scrambling to find new students and tuition dollars amid declining interest in J.D programs. For several years, announcements of those programs were coming fast and furious. But the market for students willing to spend a year of studying and sometimes $30,000 or more for a master's in law may be tapped out. I've been seeing fewer and fewer such programs come on line over the last two years.

In steps LLX, which is something of a legal master's-lite, where students can pick and choose the classes they want to take. The first course debuts this summer, and it's a six-week long program in negotiations. (You can see a promo video here.) The length of the programs will vary, but they are offered asynchronously, allowing students to do the work when convenient. Loyola is also planning to offer in-person LLX courses in the future, as well as provide on-site instruction at corporate locations.

Chan decided to take a Silicon Valley approach to LLX after dean Michael Waterstone brought him on board to shepherd the project. (The two are Harvard Law School classmates and Chan had experience as an executive coach for leaders of Silicon Valley startups, as well as experience founding his own startup.)

Chan hired a team of Silicon Valley engineers to build the LLX platform from the ground up—he didn't want to use off-the-shelf online educational resources. He insisted that the production values for the online instructional videos be high quality—he likens them to what you would see on, ahem, Netflix.

I was curious why Chan thought no other law schools had taken this unbundled approach to legal education thus far, and here's what he told me:

“I think law, in general, tends to be more backward looking than forward looking. I think there is risk aversion built into legal practice. It doesn't surprise me that law firms tend to be laggards in tech adoption and that law schools tend to lag behind in breaking new ground. The law school business model is based on the J.D, and they don't want to risk that.”

My thoughts: This is certainly a venture worth keeping tabs on. I suspect, as does Chan, that other schools will follow suit if LLX proves to be a financial success. An important part of the plan is for businesses to pick up the tab for their employees to enroll. Initially, Loyola plans to cap enrollment in this summer's negotiation course at “several hundred,” Chan said. That's $190,000 in tuition if 200 people enroll. I suspect Loyola has spent far more than that to develop LLX, but you can see the potential payoff down the line. Once created, the online courses presumable will cost relatively little to offer year-to-year. And with numerous courses per year, the revenue generation potential is significant. I think the biggest challenge lies in convincing people—and employers—that the courses are worth it. I think word of mouth will be key there. If early cohorts are pleased with the program, I can see LLX taking off.

Law School Anywhere

Online classes are also a key element of Washburn University School of Law's new Third Year Anywhere program, which it unveiled last week.

Starting with next fall's crop of 1Ls, a select group of students will be able to spend their third year in a legal externship in any location of their choosing.They will spend 20 hours a week externing in a corporate, government, higher education, judicial, law firm, or public interest setting under the supervision of a licensed attorney. They will also take online classes, including a course “law practice competencies” that will cover topics such as legal tech and project management. (The ABA's recent decision to up the number of fully online credits J.D. student may earn from 15 to as many as 30 has given schools more flexibility to experiment with programs away from campus.)

Here's Washburn Law Dean Carla Pratt:

“Washburn has long been known for graduating students who are practice-ready, and the Third Year Anywhere enrollment option will build on that foundation by affording students more in-depth practical experience during law school,” Pratt said in an announcement of the program. “Placing students in the legal market where they intend to practice will position them to join the local bar association, network with lawyers who will become their professional peers, and interview for jobs in that market prior to graduating.”

Pratt's comment highlights one of several benefits I see here. First, Washburn's location in Topeka, Kansas, comes with some limitations in terms of the experiential opportunities and externship options students have close at hand. Topeka has a population of about 130,000 people and it's not a major legal center. So clearly the ability to move elsewhere for a year to live and work opens up new avenues for students. And as Pratt noted, it gives students the chance to start building a professional network where they aspire to work. I'm guessing many of them don't aim to remain in Topeka after graduation. Thus, I predict the Third Year Anywhere program may help boost the school's post-graduate employment rate down the line. Meanwhile, I think it will potentially help on the student recruiting front. I think Washburn becomes a more attractive option once potential applicants realize they won't necessarily be tied to Topeka in their final year.

Extra Credit Reading

The number of women and minorities poised to take over law school deanshipsthis summer is on track to outpace the number of white men assuming those roles.

Western State College of Law will remain open until at least May 29, after a federal judge in Ohio ordered a receiver to fund the school long enough to allow 77 3Ls to graduate.

Georgetown University Law Center is expanding into a new building across the street from its current campus. The University paid $70 million to acquire the space.

A new mentorship program founded by an ex-Big Law attorney aims to give diverse first-year law students a leg up.

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I'll be back next week with more news and updates on the future of legal education. Until then, keep in touch at [email protected]