Texas plans to break from American Bar Association over law school credentials
Texas has made a historic change to how it oversees legal education. In an order issued Sept. 26, the Texas Supreme Court announced plans to end its reliance on the American Bar Association to accredit or oversee law schools, a responsibility the ABA has held for more than 40 years.
If finalized, the court itself would decide which schools qualify graduates to take the Texas Bar Exam, making Texas the first state in the nation to take this step. The move could reshape how law schools operate across the state, especially in North Texas, where Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth and UNT Dallas College of Law are based. Here’s what to know about the court’s decision and what happens next.
Why is Texas planning to drop the ABA’s oversight?
The Texas Supreme Court did not cite one specific reason, but the decision follows months of public discussion about how much authority the ABA should have over legal education. According to the Texas Standard, several states, including Florida and Ohio, have recently questioned whether the
ABA’s national standards, including diversity and inclusion requirements, should remain mandatory. In its official order, the Texas Supreme Court said it had reached a “tentative opinion that the ABA should no longer have the final say on whether a law school’s graduates are eligible to sit for the Texas bar exam and become licensed to practice law in Texas.” The justices said they reviewed “many helpful comments” from law deans, attorneys and members of the public before deciding to move forward with the proposed change.
What changes under the new system? Under the new framework, the Texas Supreme Court would approve law schools directly through its own admissions process instead of relying on the ABA.
The court said the goal is to make the system simpler and more predictable. Its order outlines several key points: Portability: The court “intends to preserve the portability of Texas law-school degrees into other states” so graduates can continue to apply for jobs and bar exams elsewhere. It also plans to maintain reciprocity for lawyers who move to Texas. No new red tape: The order states that the court “does not intend to impose additional accreditation, compliance, or administrative burdens on currently approved law schools.” This means schools do not need to reapply for approval or make immediate changes.
Stability and fairness: The court said it aims to provide “stability, certainty, and flexibility” using “simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria such as bar exam passage rates” instead of subjective or political standards. Protection for schools: Losing ABA accreditation will not automatically remove a law school from Texas’s approved list. The court wrote that it “will not consider the fact that a law school loses ABA accreditation to be sufficient grounds for removal.”
The Texas Board of Law Examiners will assist with the process, maintaining a list of qualifying schools and reviewing petitions from institutions that want to be added. How are law schools responding?
Eight of Texas’s 10 law deans sent a joint letter to the Supreme Court in July raising concerns about the long-term effects of removing the ABA’s role. In the letter, the deans wrote that the ABA’s system “has provided consistent, nationally recognized standards that protect students and ensure that graduates can practice law anywhere in the United States.” They warned that the change could create “a two-tier system” in which Texas trained lawyers might face added barriers to working across state lines. The deans also cautioned that “fragmenting the accreditation process could cause confusion for applicants and employers” and urged the court to “engage in careful study before taking a step that could isolate Texas law schools from the broader legal community.” Their letter emphasized that while the state should have flexibility, national consistency is vital to protecting students, saying,
“The ABA’s accreditation process, while not perfect, promotes accountability and maintains public confidence in legal education.” When do the changes take effect? The public can submit comments until Dec. 1, 2025, by emailing rulescomments@txcourts.gov. The court said it will issue a final order after reviewing those comments and expects the new rules to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026. For now, all ABA-accredited law schools in
Texas remain approved under current standards, and students at those schools can still take the bar exam without any change to their eligibility. The court also said it may consider working with another national accrediting organization in the future “should a suitable entity become available.”
Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/...-politics/article312416761.html#storylink=cpy
Texas has made a historic change to how it oversees legal education. In an order issued Sept. 26, the Texas Supreme Court announced plans to end its reliance on the American Bar Association to accredit or oversee law schools, a responsibility the ABA has held for more than 40 years.
If finalized, the court itself would decide which schools qualify graduates to take the Texas Bar Exam, making Texas the first state in the nation to take this step. The move could reshape how law schools operate across the state, especially in North Texas, where Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth and UNT Dallas College of Law are based. Here’s what to know about the court’s decision and what happens next.
Why is Texas planning to drop the ABA’s oversight?
The Texas Supreme Court did not cite one specific reason, but the decision follows months of public discussion about how much authority the ABA should have over legal education. According to the Texas Standard, several states, including Florida and Ohio, have recently questioned whether the
ABA’s national standards, including diversity and inclusion requirements, should remain mandatory. In its official order, the Texas Supreme Court said it had reached a “tentative opinion that the ABA should no longer have the final say on whether a law school’s graduates are eligible to sit for the Texas bar exam and become licensed to practice law in Texas.” The justices said they reviewed “many helpful comments” from law deans, attorneys and members of the public before deciding to move forward with the proposed change.
What changes under the new system? Under the new framework, the Texas Supreme Court would approve law schools directly through its own admissions process instead of relying on the ABA.
The court said the goal is to make the system simpler and more predictable. Its order outlines several key points: Portability: The court “intends to preserve the portability of Texas law-school degrees into other states” so graduates can continue to apply for jobs and bar exams elsewhere. It also plans to maintain reciprocity for lawyers who move to Texas. No new red tape: The order states that the court “does not intend to impose additional accreditation, compliance, or administrative burdens on currently approved law schools.” This means schools do not need to reapply for approval or make immediate changes.
Stability and fairness: The court said it aims to provide “stability, certainty, and flexibility” using “simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria such as bar exam passage rates” instead of subjective or political standards. Protection for schools: Losing ABA accreditation will not automatically remove a law school from Texas’s approved list. The court wrote that it “will not consider the fact that a law school loses ABA accreditation to be sufficient grounds for removal.”
The Texas Board of Law Examiners will assist with the process, maintaining a list of qualifying schools and reviewing petitions from institutions that want to be added. How are law schools responding?
Eight of Texas’s 10 law deans sent a joint letter to the Supreme Court in July raising concerns about the long-term effects of removing the ABA’s role. In the letter, the deans wrote that the ABA’s system “has provided consistent, nationally recognized standards that protect students and ensure that graduates can practice law anywhere in the United States.” They warned that the change could create “a two-tier system” in which Texas trained lawyers might face added barriers to working across state lines. The deans also cautioned that “fragmenting the accreditation process could cause confusion for applicants and employers” and urged the court to “engage in careful study before taking a step that could isolate Texas law schools from the broader legal community.” Their letter emphasized that while the state should have flexibility, national consistency is vital to protecting students, saying,
“The ABA’s accreditation process, while not perfect, promotes accountability and maintains public confidence in legal education.” When do the changes take effect? The public can submit comments until Dec. 1, 2025, by emailing rulescomments@txcourts.gov. The court said it will issue a final order after reviewing those comments and expects the new rules to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026. For now, all ABA-accredited law schools in
Texas remain approved under current standards, and students at those schools can still take the bar exam without any change to their eligibility. The court also said it may consider working with another national accrediting organization in the future “should a suitable entity become available.”
Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/...-politics/article312416761.html#storylink=cpy
