Online outcomes parallel traditional methodologies: A study of the legal knowledge, skills, and values represented by online law school students and graduates in professional examinations and work environments

This concurrent mixed method study provides information about whether law students and graduates educated online demonstrate legal knowledge, skills, and values that parallel their traditionally educated counterparts. This study is significant for both online and legal education; online legal education is emergent and little information exists on its success. Literature reveals that such a study should rest on whether law school trained professionals can "think like a lawyer" in a way that the profession expects. While each of the methods chosen to understand the amorphous concept of "thinking like a lawyer" might have difficulty standing alone as support for graduate achievement, validity is heightened by triangulating the data of bar results, professional evaluations and documentation of their work endeavors.