"The study, by Adam Chilton of the University of Chicago Law School and co-authors from Northwestern and Cleveland State, is titled "Alternative Educational Pathways into the Legal Profession." It covers 35 years of data, from 1984 to 2019, on every attempt by every state to let people become lawyers without going through an ABA-approved law school - apprenticeships, law office study, correspondence programs, and non-ABA law schools. The findings are, to put it gently, not great for folks that want to kick the ABA to the curb."
"The Trump administration has spent the last year waging an aggressive culture-war campaign against the ABA's role as the gatekeeper of legal education, framing its accreditation monopoly as ideologically captured, anti-competitive, and ripe for dismantling. The FTC has filed letters with the Texas and Tennessee Supreme Courts urging them to ditch ABA accreditation requirements. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson - speaking at a Federalist Society event, because of course - called the ABA "effectively a branch of the Democratic Party" and compared it to the Communist Party of America."
"Florida and Texas have already moved to eliminate their reliance on ABA accreditation for bar exam eligibility. Just last week, the ABA - under sustained pressure - voted to repeal its diversity accreditation standard, Standard 206, in what one council member candidly described as a survival calculation rather than a change of heart."
"To be clear about what's actually going on here: the right's campaign against the ABA is not, at its core, about expanding access to legal education or lowering costs for aspiring lawyers. It is about punishing an institution they perceive as ideologically hostile. The ABA has sued to protect judicial independence, passed resolutions opposing Trump administration policies, and spent years pushing diversity standards in l"
Data from 1984 to 2019 covers every state effort to create legal careers without ABA-approved law schools, including apprenticeships, law office study, correspondence programs, and non-ABA law schools. The results are unfavorable for those seeking to replace the ABA’s gatekeeping role. The Trump administration has pursued a culture-war campaign against ABA accreditation, portraying it as ideologically captured and anti-competitive. The FTC has urged Texas and Tennessee to remove ABA accreditation requirements, and Florida and Texas have already reduced reliance on ABA accreditation for bar exam eligibility. The ABA repealed its diversity accreditation standard under pressure, and the broader campaign is framed as punishment of an institution viewed as ideologically hostile rather than a genuine effort to expand access or lower costs.
Read at Above the Law
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