Page 188 - 2019 - Leaders in Legal Business (n)
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Goal II: Improve Our Profession.
From the very beginning, the American Bar Association has been synonymous with
American legal education. One of the ABA’s earliest committees was the Committee on Legal
Education and Admissions to the Bar. Written bar examinations were just coming into vogue at
the time of the ABA’s founding; while previously used and required by most states, the
examinations had mostly been informal oral tests.5 As such, legal education and subsequent
admission to the bar have been intertwined from the very beginning of the ABA.
The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar embodies legal leadership
and offers services to those institutions and individuals that educate law students and admit lawyers
to practice. The Section’s Council and its Accreditation Committee are acknowledged by the U.S.
Department of Education as the national accrediting agency for programs that culminate with the
juris doctorate degree.6 Both the Council and the Section, in this accreditation role, are independent
from the ABA, as required by DOE regulations. ABA-approved law schools are recognized by all
state supreme courts as meeting the education requirements necessary to qualify for the bar
examination.7
In addition, those in the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar are part of
a group that is 10,000 members strong and aims “to improve legal education and lawyer licensing
by fostering cooperation among legal educators, practitioners and judges through workshops,
conferences and publications. The Section also studies and makes recommendations for the
improvement of the bar admissions process.”8
In 2017, in response to the calls for change to our system of legal education, the ABA’s
Board of Governors created the Commission on the Future of Legal Education to serve as the
Association’s forward-thinking body on legal education. The group is charged with evaluating
how we can do a better job of educating and testing the competency of the future lawyers of our
country. This ABA Commission has the unique ability to bring together the disparate interests
under the same tent – the bar examiners, the law school deans, the state bars, and others – to talk
meaningfully about the best ways to educate the lawyers of the future. This innovative new group
will thoughtfully consider what alternatives should look like and what modifications should be
made to ensure that future lawyers entering the profession will be up to the task of providing the
service and expertise their clients deserve.
Furthermore, the ABA works to maintain and raise the standards of the legal profession far
beyond the institution of legal education. In 1906, Roscoe Pound, who would later become a
Harvard Law School dean, gave an influential speech on the “Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction
with the Administration of Justice” at the ABA Annual Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this
speech, which was both controversial and admired at the time, Pound called for standards and
reforms to restore public trust in the civil administration of justice.9
Today, the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility upholds professional and ethical
conduct among judges and lawyers.10 The Center, which was created in 1978, has become a
national source of professional regulation, judicial and legal ethics, and client protection by
developing, analyzing, and implementing standards as distilled from scholarly resources and
5 See AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/about_us.html.
6 See AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, FAQ,
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/frequently_asked_questions.html.
7 Id.
8 Supra note 4.
9 Supra note 2.
10 AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, ABOUT CPR, http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/about_us.html.
173
From the very beginning, the American Bar Association has been synonymous with
American legal education. One of the ABA’s earliest committees was the Committee on Legal
Education and Admissions to the Bar. Written bar examinations were just coming into vogue at
the time of the ABA’s founding; while previously used and required by most states, the
examinations had mostly been informal oral tests.5 As such, legal education and subsequent
admission to the bar have been intertwined from the very beginning of the ABA.
The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar embodies legal leadership
and offers services to those institutions and individuals that educate law students and admit lawyers
to practice. The Section’s Council and its Accreditation Committee are acknowledged by the U.S.
Department of Education as the national accrediting agency for programs that culminate with the
juris doctorate degree.6 Both the Council and the Section, in this accreditation role, are independent
from the ABA, as required by DOE regulations. ABA-approved law schools are recognized by all
state supreme courts as meeting the education requirements necessary to qualify for the bar
examination.7
In addition, those in the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar are part of
a group that is 10,000 members strong and aims “to improve legal education and lawyer licensing
by fostering cooperation among legal educators, practitioners and judges through workshops,
conferences and publications. The Section also studies and makes recommendations for the
improvement of the bar admissions process.”8
In 2017, in response to the calls for change to our system of legal education, the ABA’s
Board of Governors created the Commission on the Future of Legal Education to serve as the
Association’s forward-thinking body on legal education. The group is charged with evaluating
how we can do a better job of educating and testing the competency of the future lawyers of our
country. This ABA Commission has the unique ability to bring together the disparate interests
under the same tent – the bar examiners, the law school deans, the state bars, and others – to talk
meaningfully about the best ways to educate the lawyers of the future. This innovative new group
will thoughtfully consider what alternatives should look like and what modifications should be
made to ensure that future lawyers entering the profession will be up to the task of providing the
service and expertise their clients deserve.
Furthermore, the ABA works to maintain and raise the standards of the legal profession far
beyond the institution of legal education. In 1906, Roscoe Pound, who would later become a
Harvard Law School dean, gave an influential speech on the “Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction
with the Administration of Justice” at the ABA Annual Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this
speech, which was both controversial and admired at the time, Pound called for standards and
reforms to restore public trust in the civil administration of justice.9
Today, the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility upholds professional and ethical
conduct among judges and lawyers.10 The Center, which was created in 1978, has become a
national source of professional regulation, judicial and legal ethics, and client protection by
developing, analyzing, and implementing standards as distilled from scholarly resources and
5 See AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/about_us.html.
6 See AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, FAQ,
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/frequently_asked_questions.html.
7 Id.
8 Supra note 4.
9 Supra note 2.
10 AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, ABOUT CPR, http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/about_us.html.
173
