Quinnipiac University School of Law. Photo: Richard Mei/AP

Two Connecticut law schools announced this week they were joining more than 25 counterparts around the United States in shifting to online classes for all or part of the remaining school year, due to fears of the coronavirus.

The list of law schools nationwide features some of the most prominent institutions, including Stanford Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Columbia Law School and Harvard Law School.

Quinnipiac University School of Law will move its classes from on-site to online for the remainder of the semester, after classes resume post-spring break on March 18.

But as of Wednesday afternoon, the University of Connecticut School of Law said classes would continue on campus.

Meanwhile, in an online message to students and staff, Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken wrote that spring recess would be extended an extra week until March 20, and then classes would be online until April 5. In-class study is scheduled to resume on April 6.

"I know this is a very difficult and uncertain time for all of you," Gerken said in her message. "The law school has been working around the clock to ensure the health and safety of our community, and we have been collaborating with the university and its public health experts as the situation unfolds."

A third Connecticut resident tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. In addition, two New York residents who work at different Connecticut hospitals also tested positive in the past two weeks for COVID-19, or the coronavirus. There have been no reports of any Connecticut university staff member or students contracting the virus.

All three law schools have posted on their websites information about the virus and their response to it.

W. John Thomas, a professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law, teaches three classes on campus and one—health care compliance law—online. Thomas said he's the only professor at Quinnipiac who teaches a course online.

That gives him an advantage over his peers, Thomas said Wednesday.

"For me personally, there are no obstacles or challenges, since I've been teaching a course online for five years," Thomas said. "My fellow professors, though, are a little anxious. But the administration, including the dean and associate dean, have been collecting and distributing materials to professors that will help them move to teaching online."

Professors, Thomas said, "need to familiarize themselves with the technology and learn how to teach without getting instant feedback from students. They also need to learn how to construct online discussion forums that will enable students to participate in an active manner. That will be a challenge."

At Quinnipiac, Thomas said, there are two ways of teaching students online: teach live with students taking part via Zoom or Skype or to allow students to access the class when they want. Each professor will choose the option they prefer. Thomas said he'll use the latter for his classes.

"I will let students study when they want because I think their lives are being disrupted in a stunning way now," Thomas said. "I would like to minimize that by letting them do the work when and where they want to."

Thomas said his four law classes will entail him uploading a voice-over PowerPoint lecture and an introductory video.

"They can look at the class when they want," he said. "The lecture contains a prompt and students are obligated to visit a discussion forum and to discuss the topic with classmates and the professor by week's end."

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