One of the odder threads in the ABA being attacked as part of political theatre saga has been the antitrust accusations. It makes sense that there would be pushback for stances like “the rule of law is good and worth defending” at a time when the collective shrugs off the due-process-skirting president being touted as a King:
As stupid as it is to argue that the ABA should be abandoned as an accrediting body because it is “forcing DEI down our throats” is (it has been retreating from DEI for years and just went race neutral with their Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund), there’s a colorable argument that by supporting diversity the ABA is no longer neutral, an argument that flies especially well when the party in power is White supremacy posting on main. But even among these heavy hitters, the ABA is an evil monopoly angle is particularly weak considering that it does its job at accreditation pretty well. Nonetheless, the FTC is stepping in to ask state supreme courts to take on extra burdens to usurp the ABA;s powers. ABA Journal has coverage:
Brendan Chestnut, the director of the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning, and Daniel Guarnera, director of its Bureau of Competition, wrote in an April 30 letter that the state supreme court should reassess its “reliance on American Bar Association law school accreditation.” They said allowing the ABA to determine educational requirements for taking the bar exam and practicing law in Tennessee “raises serious competitive risks.”
Are the serious competitive risks in the room with us?
The argument is that the ABA’s monopoly as an accrediting institution “thwart[s] lower cost alternatives for legal education.” But here’s the thing: consumers are benefitted when lawyers (like most professions) are held to a quality baseline level. You may have a jump in lawyers if bypassing the ABA lets DeVry become a lawyer mill, but who would want them as their attorney? And on the other side of the set-up, what prospective students in their right mind would want to go to a law school that doesn’t fall within the ABA’s cut-offs for education quality and bar passage rates? Of course the school could be held to some other accrediting body’s standards, but let’s be honest when someone is going through a lot of effort to reinvent the wheel. When Texas’s Supreme Court decided to become a law school accrediting body, they effectively copy and pasted ABA standards 316, 502(a)-(c), 503, and 509. What good did that do except give the justices some additional paper work?
The biggest issue with knighting some other body to hand out law school accreditation is portability. As it stands, the ABA is the gold standard. The Texas and Florida supreme courts may vet law schools in their state, but why should employers in New Jersey or Minnesota respect the vetting? They will probably cross reference the school with the ABA’s rating of them. If they pass ABA muster, the state supreme courts’ thumbs up was superfluous. If the school gets a court’s approval but not the ABA’s, why risk it?
It’s an uphill battle to switch off the ABA. But hey, good luck to the FTC and Tennessee. If they flip, its only 40+ states to go!
FTC Calls On Tennessee Supreme Court To End Reliance On ABA Law School Accreditation [ABA Journal]
Earlier: FTC Blames High Law School Costs On ABA Accreditation
ABA Strikes Back At Trump, Condemning His Attacks On Lawyers And The Rule Of Law
Texas Supreme Court Takes On Role As Law School Accreditor
ABA’s Defunct Diversity In Law School Standard Moves Toward Getting Repealed
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
The post FTC Taps On Tennessee Supreme Court To Join Florida And Texas appeared first on Above the Law.
One of the odder threads in the ABA being attacked as part of political theatre saga has been the antitrust accusations. It makes sense that there would be pushback for stances like “the rule of law is good and worth defending” at a time when the collective shrugs off the due-process-skirting president being touted as a King:
As stupid as it is to argue that the ABA should be abandoned as an accrediting body because it is “forcing DEI down our throats” is (it has been retreating from DEI for years and just went race neutral with their Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund), there’s a colorable argument that by supporting diversity the ABA is no longer neutral, an argument that flies especially well when the party in power is White supremacy posting on main. But even among these heavy hitters, the ABA is an evil monopoly angle is particularly weak considering that it does its job at accreditation pretty well. Nonetheless, the FTC is stepping in to ask state supreme courts to take on extra burdens to usurp the ABA;s powers. ABA Journal has coverage:
Brendan Chestnut, the director of the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning, and Daniel Guarnera, director of its Bureau of Competition, wrote in an April 30 letter that the state supreme court should reassess its “reliance on American Bar Association law school accreditation.” They said allowing the ABA to determine educational requirements for taking the bar exam and practicing law in Tennessee “raises serious competitive risks.”
Are the serious competitive risks in the room with us?
The argument is that the ABA’s monopoly as an accrediting institution “thwart[s] lower cost alternatives for legal education.” But here’s the thing: consumers are benefitted when lawyers (like most professions) are held to a quality baseline level. You may have a jump in lawyers if bypassing the ABA lets DeVry become a lawyer mill, but who would want them as their attorney? And on the other side of the set-up, what prospective students in their right mind would want to go to a law school that doesn’t fall within the ABA’s cut-offs for education quality and bar passage rates? Of course the school could be held to some other accrediting body’s standards, but let’s be honest when someone is going through a lot of effort to reinvent the wheel. When Texas’s Supreme Court decided to become a law school accrediting body, they effectively copy and pasted ABA standards 316, 502(a)-(c), 503, and 509. What good did that do except give the justices some additional paper work?
The biggest issue with knighting some other body to hand out law school accreditation is portability. As it stands, the ABA is the gold standard. The Texas and Florida supreme courts may vet law schools in their state, but why should employers in New Jersey or Minnesota respect the vetting? They will probably cross reference the school with the ABA’s rating of them. If they pass ABA muster, the state supreme courts’ thumbs up was superfluous. If the school gets a court’s approval but not the ABA’s, why risk it?
It’s an uphill battle to switch off the ABA. But hey, good luck to the FTC and Tennessee. If they flip, its only 40+ states to go!
FTC Calls On Tennessee Supreme Court To End Reliance On ABA Law School Accreditation [ABA Journal]
Earlier: FTC Blames High Law School Costs On ABA Accreditation
ABA Strikes Back At Trump, Condemning His Attacks On Lawyers And The Rule Of Law
Texas Supreme Court Takes On Role As Law School Accreditor
ABA’s Defunct Diversity In Law School Standard Moves Toward Getting Repealed
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
