Law School AccreditationWritten by David G. Hallstrom
The following article was written for and originally published by Resources For Attorneys.com.Accreditaiton and what it means to you. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of accreditation is "to recognize (an educational institution) as maintaining standards that qualify graduates for admission to higher or more specialized institutions or for professional practice." Law schools generally fall into three catagories of accreditation, American Bar Association (ABA) accredited, state accredited or unaccredited. ABA accreditation - According to American Bar Association, "Law schools approved by American Bar Association (ABA) provide a legal education which meets a minimum set of standards as promulgated by ABA. Every jurisdiction in United States has determined that graduates of ABA-approved law schools are able to sit for bar in their respective jurisdictions. The role that ABA plays as national accrediting body has enabled accreditation to become unified and national in scope rather than fragmented, with potential for inconsistency, among 50 states, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and other territories. The Council of ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to Bar is United States Department of Education recognized accrediting agency for programs that lead to first professional degree in law. The law school approval process established by Council is designed to provide a careful and comprehensive evaluation of a law school and its compliance with Standards for Approval of Law Schools." State accreditation - Most states have their own accreditation process and in most cases give accreditation status to ABA accredited schools. However, there are many law schools that for one reason or another do not meet all of ABA accredition requirements. Some of these schools, however, do meet states requirements. Note: State requirements can vary by state. If a school meets state requirements it can apply to that state for state accreditation. Unaccredited - According to California Bar Association "An unaccredited law school is one operating as a law school in State of California that is neither accredited nor approved by Committee, but must be registered with Committee and comply with requirements contained in Rules XIX and XX of Admission Rules, applicable provisions of California Rules of Court and relevant sections of California Business and Professions Code. A law school operating wholly outside of California is unaccredited unless it has applied for and received accreditation from Committee or is provisionally or fully approved by American Bar Association." Rules in many other states are same.
| | Substituted Service In CaliforniaWritten by David Hallstrom
The following article was written for Resources For Attorneys.com by David Hallstrom, a private investigator, he is not now nor has he ever been an attorney.Section 415.20 (b) of California Civil Code Of Procedure States: If a copy of summons and complaint cannot with reasonable diligence be personally delivered to person to be served, as specified in Section 416.60, 416.70, 416.80, or 416.90, a summons may be served by leaving a copy of summons and complaint at person's dwelling house, usual place of abode, usual place of business, or usual mailing address other than a United States Postal Service post office box, in presence of a competent member of household or a person apparently in charge of his or her office, place of business, or usual mailing address other than a United States Postal Service post office box, at least 18 years of age, who shall be informed of contents thereof, and by thereafter mailing a copy of summons and of complaint by first-class mail, postage prepaid to person to be served at place where a copy of summons and complaint were left. Service of a summons in this manner is deemed complete on 10th day after mailing. Most process servers understand dwelling house or usual place of abode to mean actual place where person is currently staying. It has, however, been our experience that this means official residence or place where person is currently staying. We have found that most courts consider dwelling house to be where person is currently staying and usual place of abode to mean persons permanent residence, ie: person lives with his parents but is currently away at school. The persons dwelling house would be where he is currently staying while in school and his usual place of abode would be his parents house where he returns on vacations and when school is on break and where he expects to return when he finishes school. The same applies if person is currently in hospital, away on a business trip or is on a vacation. Usual place of business can mean different things. Say a person works every day in a factory on 8th St., that of course would be a usual place of business. Say a Doctor is on staff and shows up for work regularly at ABC Hospital. He also rents office space from a doctor's group at another location where he also sees paitents. It has been our experience that both places could be considered Doctors usual place of business. Usual mailing address other than a United States Postal Service post office box. Usual mailing address can be a private mail box service or any other place (Other than a U.S Post Office branch.) that subject uses as a mailing address. This does not mean that person must actually pick up or receive mail. It only means that person must use address as a mailing address. Some people in order to evade creditors or others give out mailing addresses but never pick up mail. If a person directs people to send that person's mail to a certain address then that address can be considered a usual place of mailing as server would have no way of verifying that mail is actually picked up.
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