Robert “;Bob”; Sanchez, a big man with big dreams, leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “;It's 50-50 to me,”; he said with a grin.

The 41-year-old probation officer and his classmates were puzzling over answers to a test that could determine their futures. All of them want to go to law school, but few of them fit the conventional mold of the young hotshot fresh out of college.

Now, for the first time, people like Sanchez have a chance to go to the University of Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of Law. This fall, the school opened its doors to part-time students, giving Hawaii residents a path to become lawyers while juggling jobs and families.

“;I have two jobs right now, trying to pay the mortgage,”; said Sanchez, who works a security job in Waikiki along with his position with the state. “;That's why this program is so excellent for me, with the part-time option.”;

“;My goal is to be a judge, if that's possible, and try to see how I can help the native Hawaiians in criminal proceedings. That would be good for a guy from Waianae.”;

Sanchez is getting a leg up on the daunting Law School Admissions Test from a coaching course that has helped almost double the number of native Hawaiians admitted to the school during the past two years. Two former law students created the grant-funded course, which charges just $75, unlike commercial prep classes that can run $1,000 and up.

Such initiatives are helping change the face of Hawaii's law school, already the most diverse in the country. Native Hawaiians now represent 21 percent of the first-year class, a record high, according to Laurie Tochiki, associate dean for student affairs. The number of native Hawaiians accepted jumped to 28 this year from 15 in 2006.

The law school launched its part-time program to give local residents who have to work for a living or take care of family a shot at a first-class legal education, Dean Avi Soifer said. Its students are held to the same standards as full-timers in admissions and course work.

“;Here was a group that just had no way to go to law school, because there's no law school for 3,000 miles in any direction,”; Soifer said. “;The core of our mission is to provide opportunity. We recognized a part-time program would address that lack of access.”;

The part-time program has 25 students, who attend classes three evenings a week. That's in addition to the 90 full-timers who enter the law school each year. While a full-time student earns a law degree in three years, part-timers are expected to take five, but the timing is flexible.

“;Once they finish their equivalent of the first year, which will take them two years, they can take any class,”; Soifer said. “;And we're going to allow the day students to take evening classes.”;

The law school accepts just one in 10 applicants, one of the most competitive admissions rates in the country, Soifer said. That didn't change with the addition of part-time students.

“;There is some perception that part-time programs are for people who can't get into law school, so it's lower quality,”; said Hazel Beh, associate dean for academic affairs. “;We made three promises to ourselves.

“;First, we wouldn't lower the standards to start the part-time program. The second was that they would receive the same rigorous and quality education -we're just pacing it differently. The third is that we would make them part of our community.”;

“;A lot of mainland schools use it as a moneymaker, and their part-time programs are huge, bigger than their full-time program,”; she added. “;At UH, it's a break-even program at best, and it's going to stay small, 25 students a year.”;

Amanda Donlin, one of the school's first part-time students, said she felt like she was part of the law school even before being accepted, because of the LSAT Prep Program, started by Derek Kauanoe and Liam Skilling in 2006, when they were still law students.

'Ahahui O Hawaii, the native Hawaiian law student organization, sponsors the class, which is held at the law school. It covers all aspects of admission, not just boning up on the arcane logic of the test. Students get individualized help, sometimes even after the course ends. They meet a wide range of guest speakers connected with law, even a judge.

“;We were invited to programs that were going on at the law school,”; said Donlin, who works full time and loaded flashcards onto her phone so she can grab moments to study. “;It was like we were in the community already. It was awesome.”;

Skilling, who teaches the class, said the intent is to help students not just with the mechanics of the test but to overcome psychological barriers to attending law school. Mostly funded by grants from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the program recently got support from the UH student equity office, allowing it to enroll other underrepresented groups, such as Filipinos.

“;So much weight is put on the LSAT,”; Skilling said. “;It can be a complete bar for people who aren't natural test takers, or who haven't grown up with that culture ... I look at the students who come through the class and, regardless of their scores, these are people you would want to be your lawyer because they're passionate and committed.”;

Sanchez, a martial artist, has already earned two master's degrees on a part-time basis, one in social work and one in criminal justice. Still, he was baffled by the LSAT at first.

“;On the pre-test, I just guessed most of it, actually,”; he admitted. “;It's been a 100 percent turnaround from where I was. Liam [Skilling] just makes things make sense.”;

“;Maybe in five years, I'll come out with my law degree and go to work in the Prosecutor's Office or public defender's, then put my name in for a per diem judge,”; he said.

Across from him in class last weekend sat Lisa Kapololu, a 27-year-old legal secretary with three children, ages 4 years, 2 years and 9 months.

“;If I keep waiting for the right time, it may never come,”; she said. “;With the nontraditional students we have here, you feel like there's other people in my situation. It's not all these 21-year-olds straight out of school.”;

Others in the course included a member of the Coast Guard who came to class directly from rescuing a Japanese fishing boat and a woman motivated by her experiences with the legal system after her brother was murdered.

Such varied backgrounds enrich the education of other law students, said Soifer, the law school dean, who taught law at night at the University of Connecticut many years ago.

“;From a teacher's perspective, the evening students are a great boon because of all their experiences,”; he said. “;I teach constitutional law. You get all the gut-wrenching, heartfelt opinions, disagreeing with one another. I'm really looking forward to teaching our evening students this coming new year.”;