Whitey Ford
01-31-2019, 06:23 AM
ABA Rejects Plan to Toughen Law School Standards
Opposition came from those who said rules would be unfair to institutions in California and those that serve minority students. (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/29/aba-rejects-plan-tougher-standards-law-schools)
The American Bar Association's House of Delegates on Monday rejected a proposal to require law schools to have 75 percent of graduates pass the bar within two years of graduation.
A letter to the ABA from legal educators focused on diversity said that 11 of the 19 law schools that, based on old data, would have lost ABA accreditation under the new rule, had "significant" minority populations (defined as more than 30 percent students of color). Two of those were historically black law schools.
"If these schools had lost their accreditation, this would have considerably harmed efforts to diversify the legal profession," the letter said.
Opposition came from those who said rules would be unfair to institutions in California and those that serve minority students. (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/29/aba-rejects-plan-tougher-standards-law-schools)
The American Bar Association's House of Delegates on Monday rejected a proposal to require law schools to have 75 percent of graduates pass the bar within two years of graduation.
A letter to the ABA from legal educators focused on diversity said that 11 of the 19 law schools that, based on old data, would have lost ABA accreditation under the new rule, had "significant" minority populations (defined as more than 30 percent students of color). Two of those were historically black law schools.
"If these schools had lost their accreditation, this would have considerably harmed efforts to diversify the legal profession," the letter said.