TaxProf Blog

Following up on this morning’s post: ABA Journal, Admission test requirement for ABA-accredited law schools will remain in effect for now:

A proposed revision to a law school accreditation standard that removes the requirement for an entrance exam was rejected by the ABA House of Delegates Monday at the organization’s midyear meeting in New Orleans.

Resolution 300 was introduced by the ABA’s Legal Education and Bar Admissions Section and called for removing the testing requirement in Standard 503. The section filed a similar measure, suggesting that the standard be removed entirely, in August 2018, but withdrew it. shortly before the House met.

“The Council is disappointed by the House of Delegates vote on Resolution 300. It will consider next steps at the Council meeting on February 17, in accordance with ABA rules and procedures,” Bill Adams, Managing Director of Accreditation and ABA Legal Education, he said in a statement.

Under ABA rules, proposed revisions to accreditation standards and rules are sent to the House for approval up to two times, but the council has the final decision on matters related to law school education.

I was one of sixty law school deans who signed a comment letter opposing the removal of the accreditation requirement that law school applicants take a valid and reliable admissions test such as the LSAT and GRE.

Previous TaxProf blog coverage:

• New York Times, ABA May Eliminate Standardized Testing for Law School Admission (May 7, 2022)
• Wall Street Journal, ABA Council votes to advance proposal allowing law schools to take the exam on an optional basis. What are the implications of admitting students who don’t take the LSAT or GRE? (May 23, 2022)
• Newsweek, In Defense of the LSAT (May 28, 2022)
• Inside Higher Ed, ABA Proposes to Eliminate Standardized Testing for Law School Admission (June 16, 2022)
• Law.com, Public Comments So Far Largely Support ABA Proposal to Make Law School Admissions Tests Optional (June 22, 2022)
• Wall Street Journal, the LSAT and other standardized tests are good for diversity (July 25, 2022)
• Law.com, ABA Gains Public Support on Proposal to Make Law School Admissions Tests Optional (August 3, 2022)
• ABA Journal, ABA Loosens Distance Learning Accreditation Standard; Council Withdraws Diversity Proposal After Public Criticism (August 9, 2022)
• Higher Ed Dive, More on ABA Proposal to Make Law School Admissions Tests Optional (August 27, 2022)
• ABA, 100+ Comments on Proposal to Make Law School Admissions Tests Optional (Sept. 5, 2022)
• Letter, Sixty Deans Oppose ABA Proposal to Make Law School Admissions Tests Optional (Sept. 2, 2022)
• Law.com, As ABA Deadline Ends, Over 100 Public Comments Highlight Divide Over Law School Admission Test Requirement (Sept 7, 2022)
• Within higher education, if the ABA makes the LSAT optional, will US News follow its college rankings approach: reduce weight given LSAT averages (11.25%), punish schools (15% reduction) with <50% test takers? (September 14, 2022)
• Reuters, ABA moves closer to ending LSAT requirement for law schools (November 8, 2022)
• Brian Leiter (Chicago), The end of the LSAT is near: What will the US news do? (November 12, 2022)
• Reuters, Poll: Many law schools won’t drop LSAT if ABA votes Friday to give schools that option (November 16, 2022)
• ABA Council on Legal Education votes 15-1 to make the LSAT optional beginning with the Fall 2026 1L class (November 19, 2022)
• More Comments on the ABA’s Push to Make the LSAT Optional in Law School Admissions (Dec 1, 2022)
• How Diversity Persists in LSAT and US News Law School Rankings (January 26, 2023)
• ABA will vote today on making LSAT optional starting with the Fall 2026 1L class (February 6, 2023)

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/02/aba-house-of-delegates-rejects-proposal-to-make-the-lsat-optional-aba-council-to-consider-next-steps. html