The John Marshall Law School in Chicago will offer its first “eClasses” beginning Spring 2010, it announced end of November. The courses, designed for professionals in Employee Benefits, will be offered through its Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits and the Center for Intellectual Property Law.
Robert Nye, director of John Marshall’s distance education, said that these four classes are the beginning of a new distance learning initiative for the law school. “We are planning to add three new courses each semester and degrees in the near future,” he noted. “We see eClass courses as another way The John Marshall Law School is making law degrees accessible to today’s professionals.”
The first classes are titled Fundamentals I of Retirement Plan Issues and Survey of Retirement Plan Issues, each three-credits. Two courses, Survey of Executive Compensation Plans and Survey of Welfare Plan Issues, are two-credit-hour courses. These courses are foundational classes for the Master of Science program for non-attorney professionals and the Masters of Law Employee Benefits curricula. In addition, Law of Patents, a two-credit-hour survey course of United States patent law, will be offered in the graduate Intellectual Property Law curriculum. Additional eClasses will be offered in Information Technology and Privacy Law.
According to Kathryn Kennedy, associate dean for the school's Advanced Studies and Research, the on-line courses are designed for both lawyers and practitioners. “John Marshall is the only law school with an American Bar Association-recognized graduate curriculum in employee benefits, and an international reputation in intellectual property law,” she said.
To complete the courses, students should have access to a reliable computer and high-speed Internet access, participate in online groups and discussions and feel comfortable using the Internet and email.
John Marshall is an ABA-accredited law school and its graduate programs are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Additional eClass information is available at www.eclass.jmls.edu .
