Conference: Public Service and the Law

FYI for public interest law geeks: The U of VA School of Law is hosting a conference on Public Service and the Law on February 11-12, 2005, featuring a keynote by Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU.

Posted 02:46 PM | law general

Humble Pie: ABA Not Awful

As you can see from the comments in the post below, I wasn't being very accurate when I made a leap from passing the bar exam to a critique of the ABA. II apologize for the misfire. To a large extent, I don't know what I'm talking about, but let's see if I can clarify it a little. My understanding is that one of the functions of the ABA is to act as an accrediting body, just as Princeton Review says here:

In most states, a law school graduate cannot take the bar exam without having attended an ABA-approved school (or, in legal lingo, a school that has earned ABA accreditation.) And in most states, passing the dreaded bar exam is a requirement for the practice of law, so a degree from a non-ABA-accredited school is a ticket to nowhere.

So there's a connection between the ABA and the high cost of law school, which was really the complaint at the heart of yesterday's rant. Exactly what the connection is, I'm still not sure. What are those accreditation requirements? How much do they add to the cost of law school? Do they stipulate the three-year requirement, or is that just something all schools have decided to do on their own? Also, according to the Princeton Review again, “[m]ost states won't let you take the bar exam if you haven't attended an ABA-accredited school,” so while joining the ABA is purely voluntary, the organization can have a pretty sizable impact on anyone who wants to practice law, regardless of whether that person decides to become a member of the ABA. Beyond that, state bar associations are largely responsible for the vague UPL statutes in many states, as well as the selective enforcement of them. So it's not the ABA's fault if these statutes don't serve the public interest, but is the ABA blameless here? Doesn't it have some influence over the state bars, which in turn have a lot of influence over the state legislatures that make these laws? But whatever. I'm sure the ABA does many very good things, and for that I am thankful. Consider all this a bit of constructive criticism from someone who really doesn't know enough about the details involved. If you can fill in the gaps a little, please do. UPDATE: A bit more on accreditation, including a link to the ABA standards for approval of law schools. Also, it appears Barry University School of Law recently sued the ABA over its accreditation standards, calling them monopolistic and racist. Sounds fascinating, but I don't have time right now for deeper digging...

Posted 10:12 AM | Comments (7) | law general