Boise’s Concordia Law School graduates its first group of students Saturday. The school, which is three years old, just received provisional accreditation in June.
Graduate Blake Echols transferred to Concordia for his second year of law school. He says the fact that the institution wasn’t accredited when he started didn’t bother him.
“I got opportunities here that I probably wouldn’t have had elsewhere," says Echols, "it being a new school, it being a much smaller school.”
The 28-year-old says his decision about where to get his degree was mostly a personal one; he and his wife recently had a baby, and have family in Boise that help out. Echols says his classes were rigorous, and he did three internships that helped him network. He doesn’t have a job lined up – but he’s not too worried about that either.
“Whether it’s here in Boise or in another state, I think that I will find one and I don’t think it will take very long. I don’t think I’ll be waiting 6-8 months to get a job."
The number of law graduates has declined in the last few years, which could be a good thing for the 11 Concordia students graduating this weekend. According to national data on law grads from 2014, more were able to get jobs in the profession than had in recent years.
Find Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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