11 law school deans oppose proposal to speed up approval process for accreditation changes
Deans at 11 law schools have argued the council for the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should not approve a proposal that would speed up the process of revising or creating new accreditation standards.
Currently, as specified by Rule 55, the ABA is allowed to weigh in on proposed revisions to standards twice before the council determines the specifics of the change. The proposed changes would give the ABA only one chance to provide its input.
But the Feb. 20 memo addressed to council chair Daniel Thies and signed by deans including Angela Onwuachi-Willig at Boston University School of Law, Paul Litton at the University of Missouri School of Law and Marcilynn A. Burke at Tulane Law School, stated “we believe that the council should prioritize adopting the best possible standards, interpretations and rules over reducing the time it may take to implement a change.”
The deans noted in the memo, posted to the council’s website after a call for public comments, that they were aware of steps to increase input on proposals early in the process, but “even with that positive step, there should be a formal rule that slows the process down when a proposed change has received substantial opposition from any major constituency.”
The section’s council is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the sole accrediting body for U.S. law schools, but it recently has been making moves to display its independence from the ABA, which is a target of criticism from the Trump administration for a host of issues, including law school accreditation.
After the council reviews the amended changes to Rule 55, likely during its quarterly meeting in May, the House of Delegates will consider them for the first time during its annual conference in August.
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