Dropping ABA requirement for lawyers is bad idea, law school association says

By Karen Sloan

April 9 (Reuters) - The Association of American Law Schools urged states to not abandon their requirements that attorneys must graduate from American Bar Association-accredited law schools in order to practice,

The AALS warned in an open letter on Tuesday that eliminating state ABA accreditation rules would weaken public protections and limit law student and lawyer mobility.

The letter from the AALS, which represents nearly all of the 197 ABA-accredited law schools, comes as the Supreme Courts of Florida and Texas are exploring whether to drop their longstanding ABA requirements for lawyer admission. Florida has the third-largest number of annual bar exam takers, followed by Texas in fourth. Those two states are home to a combined 22 ABA-accredited law schools.

“Ending or eliminating reliance on national accreditation and returning to the parochial approaches the legal profession took in the 1800s would harm our nation’s law schools and the broader legal profession,” reads the letter from the association’s executive committee, which notes that the ABA first adopted law school accreditation standards in 1921.

The ABA faces mounting pressure from the Trump administration and other Republicans to end its diversity and inclusion requirement for law schools. The ABA has also earned the White House’s ire for issuing public statements that Trump is threatening the rule of law and for condemning government officials’ attacks on judges and law firms. All of the Texas and Florida Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican governors.

Spokespeople for both courts did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, nor did an ABA spokesperson. The ABA's managing director of accreditation and legal education, Jenn Rosato Perea, previously said the ABA aims to contribute "meaningfully to the production of effective and ethical lawyers."

The Texas high court did not say why it is reviewing its ABA requirement when it called for public comment on the matter on Friday, but the Florida Supreme Court cited both, the diversity standard and the “ABA’s active political engagement,” as reasons for its inquiry.

The arm of the ABA that accredits law schools operates separately and independently from the larger ABA, the AALS letter reads. Thus, references to the organization’s “political engagement” may stem from a misunderstanding, it said.

Having one national law school accreditor makes it easy for law students to attend schools in states where they don’t intend to practice, and for lawyers to easily move between states.

Florida and Texas’ attorneys general and solicitors general went to law schools outside of those states, as did the majority of the Supreme Court justices in both states, the AALS’ letter notes.

“Having a national accreditor is critical,” the letter reads. “National accreditation ensures a minimum baseline of quality in legal education and practice that protects the public against inadequately prepared lawyers.”

Read more:

Florida weighs breaking with American Bar Association over DEI rule

Texas high court considers dropping ABA accreditation as requirement to practice law