Top State Court Again Nixes Would-Be Law School's Plea to Let Grads Take Bar
The Maine Supreme Court has again rejected a proposed law school’s plea that its prospective graduates be given conditional approval to take the state bar exam.
In a written opinion (PDF) today, the court notes that the would-be Husson University School of Law, which isn’t accredited by the American Bar Association, says it expects to apply for ABA accreditation but wouldn’t qualify under current standards.
As an alternative, if the ABA doesn’t change its standards, “Husson encourages the court to devise a set of state standards by which Husson’s program may be judged and to create a ‘Law School Evaluation Commission’ tasked with determining if Husson’s program meets those standards,” the court writes, declining to take what it describes as “these extraordinary steps.”
Additionally, the court says, “there is simply no precedent, in this state or nationally, for a state’s highest court to grant law students the right to take a bar exam before the law school even exists.” Absent an existing institution, the opinion states, “it is impossible for the ABA, or any other body, to evaluate the quality of education Husson’s students will receive.”
The court nixed an earlier request made by Husson in 2007 on similar grounds.
Hat tip: Bangor Daily News.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Husson U Hires Dean, 2 Profs for Planned New Maine Law School”
