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18 October
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How CDTA Prepares Students For The Bar Exam

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in Bar Exam, CDTA
How CDTA Prepares Students For The Bar Exam

From the time a student enrolls at the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) and begins the modern law school experience, he or she begins preparation for the bar exam. Many CDTA graduates take the California bar exam, which is an enormous, daunting challenge for any law student. However, at the CDTA, we look at the bar exam as a challenge rather than an obstacle. Our curriculum and resource platform are designed with the ultimate goal of student preparation for and success on the California State Bar Examination. We offer many useful resources, including Saturday enrichment courses, to provide students with the necessary skills...

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16 October
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Going Beyond 20th Century Legal Education: CDTA Teaches Important Skills Inside And Outside The Courtroom

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Training
Going Beyond 20th Century Legal Education: CDTA Teaches Important Skills Inside And Outside The Courtroom

Any lawyer must study and know the substantive law. Law schools have traditionally focused on teaching the substantive law and only the substantive law (except for core courses like civil and criminal procedure). At the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA), we go beyond this idea based on our belief that practical experience and certain “soft” skills coupled with substantive knowledge provide the best opportunities for a successful, rewarding, and prosperous legal career. In furtherance of our goal of preparing excellent and capable trial advocates, our classroom facilities present a true legal environment. They include: A full-functioning authentic California Trial Courtroom; A...

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14 October
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Bar Exam Basics: The Multistate Bar Exam

Posted by cdtalaw
in Bar Exam, CDTA

The Multistate Bar Exam, aka MBE, is a six-hour standardized test that lasts for an entire day of the California Bar Exam. The MBE consists of 200 multiple-choice questions that apply to hard skill courses such as Constitutional Law, Contracts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law/Procedure, Evidence, Property, and Torts. The content of exam questions is divided evenly among each of the MBE subjects at 25 questions per subject. The test was originally formulated by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), which continues to administer the test today. Applicants are required to answer a set of 100 questions in the morning session and...

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11 October
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CDTA: Study On Your Own Time!

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Distance learning law school, Online Law School
CDTA: Study On Your Own Time!

Many people do not have the time to advance their education during the typical morning-through-afternoon school day. Whether they work or care for loved ones, school may not be available when they are. These hopeful students seek an academic program designed for people who need to study at their own pace according to their own schedule. Workers and caregivers find the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) fits their schedule perfectly for two reasons. First, CDTA’s winning formula includes a thorough study of California Bar test subject areas, examined regularly. Of course, many California law schools rely on a similar formula. However, CDTA...

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10 October
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Mentors Are Invaluable

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Training
Mentors Are Invaluable

CDTA Founder and Dean John Patrick Dolan started the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) to develop not just exceptional attorneys, but outstanding trial attorneys. Dean Dolan realized that a focus on trial advocacy skills would require a different approach to a student’s overall legal education. He conceptualized an educational curriculum that was analogous to a medical school residency program where doctors mentored students and provided them with hands-on, real-world scenarios to apply their new professional skills. Dean Dolan’s own experiences as a law student with an attorney mentor were priceless. These experiences provided invaluable practical skills because they placed him in the...

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09 October
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The Benefits Of Online Resources

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Distance learning law school, Online Law School
The Benefits Of Online Resources

The California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) is on the cutting edge of modern, progressive 21st Century legal education. The ability to connect with students in the digital age and supplement classroom learning through the internet is an immensely valuable tool. At the California Desert Trial Academy, we are continuously seeking ways to better utilize online resources for the benefit of CDTA’s growing student body. Educating, training, and developing extraordinary advocates is our mission. The CDTA optimizes the use of online resources to pursue this mission to its fullest. We’ve designed our state-of-the-art technology platform to allow students to stay connected and...

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08 October
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Did You Know That CDTA Also Offers MCLE Classes?

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, Continuing Legal Education, Online Law School
Did You Know That CDTA Also Offers MCLE Classes?

The California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) has served the Coachella Valley in a variety of ways since it was founded in 2012. First and foremost, we brought higher legal education to the Inland Empire. We’ve also started charitable legal causes such as Project #180, which kept at-risk teens from committing crimes and entering the California juvenile justice system. CDTA has a direct affiliation with the Desert Center for Legal Education (DCLE), which provides insightful commentary on our justice system while supporting educational commentary on high profile legal issues produced and distributed on radio, television, print, and social media in the Coachella Valley. But...

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07 October
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Bar Exam Basics: The California Bar Exam

Posted by cdtalaw
in Bar Exam, CDTA
Bar Exam Basics: The California Bar Exam

The California Bar Exam is as daunting as any bar exam in the country. The preparation for an examination of this magnitude is like no other test anyone will likely take in a lifetime. All the California Desert Trial Academy’s (CDTA) California State Bar tested courses are uniquely taught in a real courtroom environment by real lawyers and judges. Our 4-year law school program prepares students to take and pass the California Bar Examination. Most students are used to studying a few days in advance for a test in an undergraduate class. For many tests, the preparation may require only a...

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04 October
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CDTA Students Support One Another

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA, First year law students, High Pressure
CDTA Students Support One Another

“We’re all in this together, so let’s help each other achieve common goals.” This a strong tenet of the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA). The more resources, human or otherwise, that a student has in learning about any subject, the more a student will learn. It really is nothing but basic common sense. The CDTA emphasizes student collaboration and teamwork as an important component of achieving academic and professional goals. It seems every law school student knows the story of a certain fellow student who “misplaced” and unscrupulously concealed books in the law library to prevent his classmates from completing a...

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03 October
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Going Beyond 20th Century Legal Education: CDTA’s Progressive Approach

Posted by cdtalaw
in CDTA
Going Beyond 20th Century Legal Education: CDTA’s Progressive Approach

Traditional law schools prepare students to be lawyers by a rigorous schedule that compresses legal education into three years. CDTA meets the needs of working people by providing a more relaxed “study at your own pace” approach to legal education that considers adult students’ responsibilities away from legal school. A student will take four years of classes at CDTA before graduation. This additional year allows a slower, more reasonable, manageable pace while providing courses and teaching skills that equip graduates to be competent advocates on their first day of practicing law. Discussions with legendary trial attorneys, F. Lee Bailey and Gerry...

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CONTACT INFORMATION

California Desert Trial Academy College of Law
45-290 Fargo Street
Indio, CA 92201
(760) 342-0900

Call: (760) 342-0900
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Statement of Nondiscrimination

Consistent with sound educational policy, CDTA College of Law does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, ancestry, religious creed, national origin, disability, medical condition, age, marital status, political affiliation, gender identity, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

California State Bar Standard and Required Disclosure

The method of instruction at this law school for the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree program is principally in physical classroom facilities.

Students enrolled in the J.D. degree program at this law school who successfully complete the first year of law study must pass the First-Year Law Students Examination required by Business and Professions Code 6060(h) and Rule VIII of the Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law in California as part of the requirements to qualify to take the California Bar Examination.

A student who passes the First-Year Law Students Examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it will receive credit for all legal studies completed to the time the examination is passed. A student who does not pass the examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it must be promptly disqualified from the law school’s J.D. degree program. If the dismissed student subsequently passes the examination, the student is eligible for re-enrollment in this law school’s J.D. degree program, but will receive credit for only one year of legal study.

Study at, or graduation from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or to satisfy the requirements for admission to practice in jurisdictions other than California. A student intending to seek admission to practice law in a jurisdiction other than California should contact the admitting authority in that jurisdiction for information regarding the legal education requirements in that jurisdiction for admission to the practice of law.

Copyright CDTA California Desert Trial Academy College of Law. All rights reserved. The Desert’s first and only Law School. Proudly serving all of Southern California; accepting applications from Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.