Overview
- In a finalized order issued this week, the court vested sole approval authority in itself, ending four decades of reliance on the American Bar Association for determining bar exam eligibility.
- Graduates no longer must attend an ABA-accredited school to practice in Texas, and the court does not expect immediate changes to the current list of approved programs.
- The court said currently approved schools will retain approval if they meet objective standards no more onerous than the ABA’s, and it signaled potential future reliance on a different multistate accreditor.
- The decision followed a public process that began in April, included a tentative ruling in September, and closed public comments on December 1.
- Eight Texas law school deans warned of risks to lawyer mobility and higher costs, the University of Texas dean urged exploring alternatives, and two FTC officials backed the shift as a curb on an accreditation monopoly.