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Law Schools

After Texas chief justice criticizes ABA, state supreme court reconsiders ABA accreditation for law schools

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 8, 2025, 3:54 pm CDT

The Texas Supreme Court is inviting comments on a requirement that law grads seeking bar admission in the state must have graduated from a law school accredited by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

In an April 4 order, the Texas Supreme Court requested feedback on whether to “reduce or end” reliance on the ABA as an accrediting agency and “alternatives the court should consider.”

The state supreme court is inviting comments from the Texas Board of Law Examiners, Texas law school deans, the bar and the public, the order said.

Law360 covered the story.

The Texas Supreme Court did not comment on the reason for its order. But Chief Justice James D. Blacklock criticized the ABA in his February State of the Judiciary address for “aggressively taking sides in the fight going on in Washington about the scope of the president’s executive power.”

ABA President Bill Bay has criticized the Trump administration’s “wholesale dismantling of departments and entities created by Congress,” as well as “efforts to dismiss employees with little regard for the law and protections they merit.”

The Texas Supreme Court’s order follows a similar move last month by Florida’s top court. It has created a subgroup to reconsider the requirement that law grads taking the Florida bar exam must have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school.

The Florida Supreme Court took action because of “reasonable questions” about an accreditation standard on diversity and “the ABA’s active political engagement,” according to a press release. The Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has suspended enforcement of its diversity standard as it works on revisions.

The Association of American Law Schools is making the case for national accreditation of law schools in an April 8 open letter that has also been submitted to working groups considering the accreditation issue in Texas and Florida.

Thirty-three law schools, most of them in California, don’t have ABA accreditation. Most have “extremely low bar exam pass rates, poor job outcomes and high attrition rates,” the letter said.

The letter said national accreditation is critical for ensuring “a minimum baseline of quality in legal education and practice.” Most states don’t have the resources to sufficiently evaluate law schools, and “piecemeal, fragmented or overlapping regulation would increase costs on law schools, their students and the profession,” the letter said.

Creating different barriers to a law license that vary by state would also hamper lawyer mobility and add to lawyer deserts, the letter said.

The letter also clarified that the ABA does not accredit law schools. Instead, that job is handled by the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, “a national accrediting entity that is separate and independent from the bar association.”

Jennifer L. Rosato Perea, the managing director accreditation and legal education for the ABA, issued a statement to the ABA Journal.

The council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar “understands the [Texas] Supreme Court’s need to thoughtfully consider the council’s continued role in accreditation and hear from a variety of perspectives to ensure that this accreditation continues to serve its admission requirements,” the statement said.

“The council’s primary purpose in accreditation has been and continues to be contributing meaningfully to the production of effective and ethical lawyers, as well as serving the interests of the public in Texas and all other states throughout the United States.”

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3. Newer law school in Florida gets provisional…

Law Schools

Newer law school in Florida gets provisional accreditation from the ABA

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 5, 2024, 11:12 am CST

A law school that opened in Jacksonville, Florida, in August 2022 has obtained provisional accreditation from the ABA, paving the way for its graduates to take the bar exam.

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar granted provisional accreditation to the Jacksonville University College of Law in Florida at a meeting Feb. 22 and 23, according to a section memo and a law school press release.

Law.com, Above the Law, the Florida Times-Union and Reuters have coverage.

The law school applied for accreditation in March 2023, the earliest possible date. The school’s inaugural August 2022 class had 14 law students, according to Reuters. The next year, 26 new students enrolled.

“We felt a heavy responsibility to pursue and attain accreditation before our inaugural students graduated,” said Nick Allard, the founding law dean, in the press release. “And we met that ambitious goal.”

Allard told the Florida Times-Union that provisional accreditation “is a very important, if not crucial, milestone,” and it is “a big, big deal.”

See also:

“Are more law schools needed in areas where InfiLaw campuses closed?”

“Florida mayor commits $5M in public funds to help open new law school”

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3. ABA law school accreditation not necessarily…

Bar Exam

ABA law school accreditation not necessarily needed to take Indiana bar exam, top state court decides

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 21, 2024, 9:10 am CST

The Indiana Supreme Court has broadened the pool of would-be lawyers eligible to take the bar exam.

In an order filed Feb. 15, the state supreme court changed its attorney admission rule to allow graduates of non-ABA-accredited law schools to request a waiver to take the exam, report Reuters and Law.com.

The Indiana Board of Law Examiners can grant the waiver if the applicant was eligible at graduation to take the exam in another state. The provision allows applicants to seek waivers if they graduate from a fully online law school or a California-accredited law school because California allows those graduates to take the exam, Reuters explains.

The change takes effect July 1, enabling applicants for the February 2025 bar exam to request a waiver.

The Purdue Global Law School, which is fully online, had requested the change. The law school’s dean, Martin Pritikin, said in a Feb. 16 press release the rule can help address the lawyer shortage in Indiana, which is particularly acute in rural areas.

See also:

“Legal Ed council calls for comments regarding fully online law schools”