On Sunday July 28, Concord Law School of Kaplan University held its eighteenth graduation ceremony. The school is the country’s leading completely-online law school. The ceremonies took place in Los Angeles at the Skirball Cultural Center. The graduates were divided into two groups; 22 who received their Juris Doctor and 20 who earned their Executive Juris Doctor. Over 40 percent of the graduating class hold other post-graduate degrees ranging from Ph.D.’s to MDs. Some of the students hold Master’s degrees in engineering, taxation, nursing, business administration and archaeology.
The keynote address was given by the dean of the University of Tulsa College of Law, Janet K. Levit. She discussed with the students in attendance that the value of a law degree in a struggling economy is from “a ‘drying up’ of entry-level job opportunities in traditional law firm settings, outsourcing of legal services abroad, and technological innovation that is leading to commoditization of some legal services. I am here to stand tall, to stand proud, and to proclaim with great confidence that despite the naysayers, your law degree is a great investment – it is one that will serve you very well as you build upon your current career trajectory or launch a new one. Yet, it is up to you to be smart about your investment – to be patient, to be deliberate, to be ethical and to be open to the paths less traveled.”
Levit graduated from Yale Law School and acquired her MA in International Relations at Yale. She has been the dean of the University of Tulsa College of Law since 2008.