If all that mattered is that you know how to do 'stuff', then paying for a brand-name school wouldn't matter, because the 'stuff' is the same. (except for non-accredited schools I suppose)
Just getting an MBA is not necessarily going to guarantee success as a deal maker or whatever. You should have a plan beforehand if only to reduce risk of time and money wasted.
Another tidbit, since this will probably turn into that kind of thread: I will advise anyone who listens that getting 3-5 years of work experience will, for most people, be substantially more valuable for prospective lawyers than going directly through to law school from undergraduate. The funny thing is that I finished so high in my class in part because, after working for several years, the bad parts of law school seemed pretty trivial.
Note this is a US perspective and other countries educate their professionals differently.
This is how people should treat any schooling. My plans weren't as thought out when I went to undergrad long ago, but even something as simple as 'pick a major that has a high likelihood of financial stability' helps.
> I will advise anyone who listens that getting 3-5 years of work experience
Don't many of the top b-schools also require some work experience prior to attending?
I don't mind a major that, by itself, has limited financial utility. My own degree is laughably unprofitable. In my experience, you can accomplish the exercise of developing excellent research and writing habits, time management, etc. using just about any degree. In hiring, I also like to see someone who is more than their job, who has interests and motivations beyond the blinders of their profession. But, to your broader point, _thinking about what you want to accomplish_, even if it ends up changing completely, is better than just marking the box of "going to college".
Any advice on how to go about getting a degree that is reasonably priced, getting experience? Is there industry knowledge around which (ideally online) school is the most legit?
The only other things I would say are that the first semester is the most important in determining how you feed into the job market (assuming a traditional summer associate track) and the third year ... shouldn't exist. I would also have a concrete idea of what you want to accomplish (mine: combine the principles of software development with business experience and a risk management mindset to help companies find the best chance of success with their projects -- I have done everything from massively automating legal processes using developer tools to IP to privacy to infosec to dispute resolution .. it's been great). Just saying "I want to do transactions" or "I want to focus on international law or nonprofits" (admirable but cliche and absolutely not financially viable) is not enough. This isn't meant to criticize what you said about civil litigation at all--it's one part of a 4-line reply and not a personal statement--but what can YOU bring to the interests you want to serve?
Oh, and the Bar Exam isn't as bad as everyone says it is. I wouldn't do it recreationally, but I've done project justification meetings with leadership that were more taxing.
He's just at his old job, which is something deep in the bowels of health insurance that somehow extracts more money from insurance providers and feeds it to hospitals. It is fairly well-paid and he works from home, but this was not the outcome he wanted nor the $200k debt.