LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Concord Law School's summer commencement took place July 29, 2006 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The 76 graduates had earned other postsecondary degrees prior to enrolling in Concord. Among those were 8 PhDs, 6 MDs, 7 MBAs, an ED, 4 advanced health degrees, and 24 masters degrees. The event marked the seventh commencement ceremony for Concord, the nation's first wholly online law school.
Immediately following the graduation ceremony, Ruthe Ashley, a member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, administered the oath of admission to 4 Concord graduates: Laura Babbin of Toms River, NJ; John Jacobson of Boca Raton, FL; Thomas Batchelder of Edgewater, FL; and Michell Whatley of Southlake, TX.
The graduation speaker was Peter W. Martin, the Jane M.G. Foster Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, and a former Dean of Cornell Law School. A strong proponent of the use of computers in the law and educational process, Professor Martin co-founded Cornell's Legal Information Institute (LII), the first Internet law resource and today's most heavily used non-profit legal Web site. He teaches an online course in Social Security Law in which many Concord students have participated.
"I have participated in scores of law school graduations in my career as a law teacher and regularly presided over them during my term as a dean, but none surpass this one for collective accomplishment and promise," said Peter Martin, referring to the level of education, career achievement, and family responsibilities shouldered by the graduates.
Peter Martin reminded the audience that Abraham Lincoln "had studied law using the only available distance technology of that time -- books. When a law student sought his advice in 1855 Lincoln replied: 'Get the books, and read and study them.' It doesn't matter, he continued, whether the study be done in a small town or a large city, by oneself or in the company of others. 'The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places ... Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.'"
Concord Law School (http://www.concordlawschool.com/ ) is the nation's first institution to offer a Juris Doctor (JD) degree earned wholly online conferred via state-of-the-art technology. With the latest Internet-adaptive technologies, the Concord program offers affordable instruction combined with maximum flexibility specifically designed for students who have full time careers or otherwise busy lifestyles."
Contact: Holly Barnhill, 310-689-3216
