|
Written by Stacey Scorza
|
|
Sunday, 02 March 2008 07:39 |
 By mtsn at Flickr
Accreditation by the ABA is granted where a law school meets their adopted Standards and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools. It is also referred to as ABA approval. Provisional approval by the ABA is conferred where a law school establishes that it is in substantial compliance with the Standards and it also demonstrates that the law school is on track to full compliance within three years of the provisional approval. Students and graduates of provisionally approved law schools are given the same Juris Doctorate recognition as other ABA approved law schools. In most jurisdictions, a bar applicant cannot sit for a bar exam unless they have graduated from an approved or provisionally approved law school. As of June 2007, there were eight provisionally approved law schools in the U.S.
The Standard on bar passage for provisionally approved law schools is affected by the most recent change. The ABA assists with the understanding of it’s Standards by publishing Interpretations. After several proposals and notice and comment periods for the revision of Interpretation 301-6 (i.e., bar passage rates), the ABA adopted the new interpretation. The bar passage Standard in full states that, “A law school shall maintain an educational program that prepares its students for admission to the bar, and the effective and responsible participation in the legal profession.”
The application of the newly adopted Interpretation of this Standard functions differently with respect to ABA approved and ABA provisionally approved law schools. The time period used for assessing a provisionally approved law school seeking full approval is where this difference lies. A provisionally approved law school must meet one of the following tests in applying for full approval:
i. Out of the students who graduated from the law school since it was provisionally approved, at least 75% who sat for a bar exam passed, prior to the ABA’s consideration of the school for full approval; or
ii. In each of at least two of the calendar years since the school received provisional approval, at least 75% of the law school’s graduates who took a bar exam in those years passed prior to the time the law school applied for full approval by the ABA; or
iii. In each of at least two of the calendar years since the school received provisional approval, the school’s annual first-time bar passage rate in the jurisdictions reported by the school is no more than 15 points below the first-time bar passage rates for graduates of ABA approved law schools taking the bar in these same jurisdictions.
Under all of the above tests, only students who graduated after the school received provisional approval are counted. Therefore, if a school is provisionally approved in March 2008, then only those students who graduated and took a bar exam after that date, i.e. July 2008, would count. It is designed to secure consistency with regards to the application of the accreditation rule requiring that approved law schools adequately prepare students for admission to the bar.
The Standard protects both consumers who are considering attending law school and those consumers who use the legal services of those who graduate. I am highly in favor of the new interpretation, but, what does this all mean for schools seeking provisional approval by the ABA? It is technically a stricter standard, however, whether or not it makes it more difficult for schools to acquire provisional or full approval is something that only time will tell. I would like to see the affect be an internal review by law schools seeking approval to adjust or raise requirements to attend the school and/or requirements to graduate.
What does this mean for you if you are thinking of applying to law school? Naturally, prospective law students should make sure to check the bar passage rate for the schools to which they are applying. The last thing you would want is to go through the expense, sacrifice, and stress of the law school curriculum just to find out that you are not prepared to take a bar exam. It is my hope that the stir over the new Interpretation will trigger prospective students to think about the whole picture in terms of what is required of them to be admitted to the bar and later practice, rather than what they need to do just to get by. It does a disservice to both those students and the general population as a whole. I would not let it discourage you, but it is something that should not be ignored.
|
