Texas Ends American Bar Association oversight of law schools & bar exams!

[army judge]

Jurisdiction

Texas

Texas is now the first state in the U.S. to eliminate American Bar Association oversight of its law schools, ending the state's 42-year-long reliance on the national organization.

The Texas Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday finalizing a tentative September opinion, asserting the ABA should "no longer have the final say" on which law school graduates can take the bar exam — a requirement to becoming a licensed lawyer in each state.

"The Court advised that it intends to provide stability, certainty, and flexibility to currently approved law schools by guaranteeing ongoing approval to schools that satisfy a set of simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria using metrics no more onerous than those currently required by the ABA," reads the order signed by all nine justices.


=======================================================

Texas becomes first state to end American Bar Association oversight of law schools

The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday finalized a tentative opinion issued in September that no longer requires soon-to-be lawyers to attend a law school accredited by the American Bar Association. The power to approve those law schools now rests with the state's highest civil court.

www.keranews.org

 

[army judge]

 

[army judge]

My beloved wife was born in the panhandle, specifically Amarillo.

On the other hand, I was born in Port Arthur.

 

[army judge]

It's no secret that Texans are very proud of their state and everything that comes out of it. Texans are especially fond of state staples, like Whataburger, H-E-B, and Buc-ee's.

One Texas native, Sally Cummings, said, "It's a Texas thing. It really is."

But have you ever wondered why residents love these Texas staples so much?

KXAN spoke with Texas State University Associate Professor of Marketing Rick Wilson. Wilson says it is because the businesses tap into their pride for the state. Wilson explained, "Using the iconography, you know, the Texas State, the colors, the flag, and they really pull that into every aspect of their business."

Wilson says that the state pride dates back centuries. "I really think it comes down to, you know, the 1830s and 1840s when Texas was its own Republic. A really big sense of community when they were, you know, isolated for so long in our nation's history."

Cummings said, "Makes you feel happy because Texas has such a good spirit."

 

[Tax Counsel]

A number of states are in the process of considering changes to their requirements for a license to practice law. One of the issues that states are encountering is what burden their proposals will put on law schools to ensure their graduates will have the opportunity to get licensed in whatever state(s) they wish after graduation. Having a system in which most law schools are only approved for a limited number of states would result in a fracturing of the legal profession. We should be moving to a system that makes it easier for those who want to become lawyers to be eligible to practice in any state rather than in the other direction. A rule that says that going to an ABA approved law school will meet the education standard but that also allows graduates of non ABA approved law schools to get licensed would be better than every state having its own unique requirements that may make it very hard or impossible to have the option to practice in the state of their choice.