ABA Legal Ed council appoints new committee to review accreditation standards
A special advisory committee charged with reviewing law school accreditations has been formed, including state supreme court justices and law school deans and professors, the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar announced Monday.
The council has been under fire for adopting standards that critics say are too stringent, too expensive to enforce and that have led to a homogenization of law schools and their offerings.
Bumping up experiential learning requirements from six to 12 also has been a hot topic. A May 2 proposal impacting Standards 303, 304 and 311 met fierce opposition.
One letter signed by 52 deans of ABA-accredited law schools requested that the council slow down and make incremental changes, as law schools already are facing funding cuts and several other challenges. Despite support from the Clinical Legal Education Association, the Society of American Law Teachers and others, the proposal was withdrawn in August.
At its November meeting, the council announced that it would create the new committee to take a deep look at the standards and their impact, gathering information from key players on what changes are needed.
“The council cannot do its work of accrediting law schools alone,” said council chair Daniel Thies in a statement. “The wisdom and insight from this distinguished group of state supreme court justices, law school deans and others prominent in their fields will shape our deliberations and ensure that our system operates effectively and efficiently in service of clients and the public.”
To date, the advisory committee includes:
• Kerry Abrams, dean of the Duke University School of Law
• Chief Justice Megan K. Cavanagh, the Michigan Supreme Court
• Anthony W. Crowell, dean of the New York Law School
• Chief Justice Matthew Fader, the Maryland Supreme Court
• Justice Rebeca A. Huddle, the Texas Supreme Court
• Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen, the South Dakota Supreme Court
• David H. Moore, dean of the Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
• Cynthia Nance, dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law
• Erin O’Hara O’Connor, dean of the Florida State University College of Law
• Jerry Organ, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota
• Justice David Overstreet, the Illinois Supreme Court
• Augustin “Augie” Rivera Jr., chair of the Texas Board of Law Examiners and general counsel of the Del Mar College District
• Kevin K. Washburn, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law
• David Yellen, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law
Other members might be added early next year, according to the press release. The new committee will meet regularly with the council’s standards committee to prioritize which standards should be reviewed, according to the press release.
“This greater inclusion and transparency in standards revisions will enhance the council’s valuable work in helping to ensure that state courts admit graduates who are prepared to be effective, ethical and responsible members of the legal profession,” according to the press release.
The council is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the national accrediting agency for JD programs and is separate and independent from the ABA.
Most states require applicants to the state bar to be graduates of an ABA-accredited law school. Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Florida are reconsidering those requirements on heels of executive orders from the Trump administration mandated the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and demands by the Department of Education that academic institutions eliminate DEI policies or risk federal funding cuts.
Those orders direct the secretary of the Education Department to deny, suspend or terminate an accreditor’s recognition if they take into account a school’s diversity. The secretary must “realign” accreditation by requiring universities to use student outcome data without referring to demographic data, according to the April 23 executive order. Additionally, that order demands universities to “prioritize intellectual diversity” among faculty.
In response, the council suspended enforcement of the contentious standard until Aug. 31, 2026.
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