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Entry: Activist accreditors
It's worth pointing out to those who are not attorneys that the ABA does not have any other direct role in regulating the practice of law. It is a purely voluntary organization of which only possibly half (and probably less) of the lawyers in the US are members. The practice of law itself is regulated by the state bars, which in most states are quasi-governmental entities to which an attorney MUST belong in order practice. As the article notes, they have delegated to the ABA the authority to determine what law schools' graduates can even apply to take their bar exam (in every state besides California and, I believe, Vermont). And the ABA skews WAY to the left of the legal profession as a whole. It's long since past time for the state bars to be FORCED by the education department to do their jobs themselves, and for the ABA to be cut out of any role at all. I can guarantee the Virginia Bar wouldn't have any problem with accrediting a law school like GMU: as far as I can tell from its students and graduates I've known, it's a place where people go who actually want and intend to think and learn, not just get a credential because they don't know what else to do with themselves (which is the default reason for far too many of my brethren becoming attorneys).
Posted by Dave J at April 28, 2008 7:38 PM