ABA Legal Ed council defines accreditation goals and values
Facing threats from the Trump administration and proposed alternative accreditors, the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar adopted a set of core principles that sharpen the definition of its mission.
During its quarterly meeting on Friday in Chicago, the council approved the three-page document, “Core Principles and Values of Law School Accreditation,” which spells out the goals of accreditation and the substantive and procedural values guiding its work.
The section’s council, a separate and independent entity from the bar association, has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the sole accrediting body for law schools since 1952. Most states require applicants of the state bar to be graduates of an ABA-accredited law school.
Recently, Ohio, Texas and Florida are reconsidering those requirements.
Those states’ moves follow several mentions of the council in executive orders, including one on April 23 taking aim at higher education accreditors and specifically referencing the council.
The council’s newly approved document underscores four goals of accreditation, Steven C. Bahls, a council member, said at the meeting.
Those include requiring law schools to maintain rigorous programs that prepare students to be admitted to the bar and serve as ethical and responsible lawyers; protect students against economic exploitation; safeguard the public by ensuring lawyers are competent and promote access to the profession while supporting the rule of law and access to justice, he said.
Also, the council has been under fire after a proposal to double experiential learning credits needed by law students to graduate from an accredited school.
Critics said the proposed changes to accreditation Standards 303, 304 and 311 would give the section unnecessary control over curriculum and increase tuition costs, while supporters said that 12 upper-level credits were not too much of a burden.
That proposal was put on hold at Friday’s meeting.
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