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27 Student Law. 34 (1998-1999)
Almost Accredited Doesn't Make the Grade

handle is hein.journals/studlyr27 and id is 86 raw text is: Almost Accredited Doesn't Make the Grade If you think your law school experience is stressful, imagine how you'd feel if your law school's accreditation were at risk-possibly rendering your hard- earned law degree worthless. Here's what students at two law schools did when they found themselves in just that situation BY JANE EASTER BAHLS Work hard in law school, take copi- ous class notes, hash over cases with a good study group, stay up really late every night, do your utter best on exams, and eventually you'll get your reward: a law degree that entitles you to take the bar exam and become a real lawyer. That's the idea, anyway. But what if, as you were nearing the end of your law school ordeal, you learned that the de- gree you'd sweated so long to earn would be practically worthless? A legal educa- tion may be valuable for its own sake, but that's small comfort if you expected to be able to sit for the bar and they won't let you in. That's what nearly happened last year at the University of the District of Columbia School of Law in Washington, D.C., and at Chapman University School of Law in Anaheim, California. The Uni- versity of the District of Columbia School of Law, which depends heavily on federal subsidies allotted to the Dis- trict of Columbia, nearly lost its provi- sional accreditation by the American Bar Association this January after the dis- trict's money woes left the school on shaky financial ground. Chapman Uni- versity sought ABA approval of its new law school in 1997 and was flatly reject- ed. In both cases, some students pan- icked as the administration regrouped and made heroic efforts to meet the ABA's accreditation standards. The stories have happy endings, though: Both law schools are now provi- sionally accredited by the ABA, and their 1998 graduating classes are busy taking the bar or embarking on their legal ca- reers. But their roads to accreditation varied dramatically. For a law school, ABA accreditation means everything. It's the ultimate seal of approval, the guarantee to applicants and employers alike that this school maintains a high-quality faculty and de- livers a rigorous legal education. Going through the lengthy accreditation process means a law school has subject- ed itself to the scrutiny of experts. ABA accreditation is everything for law students, too. In California, Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia and Maine, gradu- ates of law schools that aren't ABA-ac- credited are allowed to take that state's bar exam only-provided that the school is approved by the state bar. Everywhere else, a graduate without a degree from an ABA-accredited law school may not take the bar exam or practice law. New law schools-which in recent years have been springing up in surpris- ing numbers-may recruit students on the fervent expectation of obtaining ac- creditation by the time the students grad- uate. Then it's up to the administration to study the ABA's standards, hire consul- tants and put everyone's feet to the fire to meet those standards. Established law schools that find themselves on the los- ing end of a reaccreditation visit (law schools must apply for reaccreditation every seven years) must do the same and scramble to appeal the ruling-or a whole class of students might as well throw their law degrees in the trash. Here's what happened at two law schools on opposite sides of the country when the bad news came down. The schools have little else in common. One is the offspring of a century-old Protes- tant university with wealthy trustees ac- customed to success; the other is a strug- gling urban school with a mission of serving the needy. One lost its accredita- tion bid because of dangerously low funding; the other because of what the ABA deemed to be low academic stan- dards and a marginal faculty. One looked to the outside in a desperate bid for money; the other turned inside in a whirlwind effort to clean house and tighten the rules for students and faculty alike. At one, the students rallied in a show of unity, lobbied Congress on be- half of their school and drove halfway across the country to appeal their school's case to the ABA. At the other, students turned on each other as some defended the administration while oth- ers sued the school for fraud. 34 STUDENT LAWYER o October 1998 SHARON KITAZAWA

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